A Dragon's Rose
by Explicit Red
Summary: A simple man living in his own world. Left to fend for himself and live to see how cruel the world was. He was not a man of destiny. But then she came waltzing into his life, with the chains of fate, destined to change himself. What was he to do? NaLu.
1. Enter The Fire Dragon Slayer

_**Hello to all my readers and welcome to my first fanfic ever! I'm very excited to finally join the ranks of thousands of other authors on this site.**_

_**Hopefully as I continue to write, my writing skills will continue to grow, along with this community.**_

_**Well enough about that, I hope you all enjoy this NaLu Fic. "A Dragons Rose." **_

_**Sorry for a somewhat dark intro, but hopefully the ending will make up for it ;). Feedback will be greatly appreciated, if its good or bad, and most importantly what I should improve as a writer.**_

_**Thank you and enjoy the first chapter! Explicit Red~**_

* * *

_Life_

A simple word, four letters, a noun of the English language, and possibly just scribbles in the eyes of the ignorant. But he knew better than that, there was more behind those four simple letters that engulf his mind constantly on a daily basis. It always felt as if he was being dragged into a world of his own, not exactly paradise so to speak. Lost in the depths of darkness that is his conscience. It plagued his mind, his thoughts eating through him like a rabid hound. In desperation, he pleads for it to stop, but somewhere deep down in his being, he is _curious_, and wants this feeling to subdue him, to somehow embrace him. Escaping from the realm he calls reality, only to be brought back by the worried whispers of his dear friends and pats on the shoulder to wake him from his midday dreams. Oh the fantasy world that he lives in.

Not everyone lived, but everyone died, in some way, shape and form. The cause being from trauma, depression, sacrifice, the lack of moral values, or corruption. He's seen it all; he's seen his fair share of battles, dangerous life encounters, wrong place wrong time situations, murder, and blood. Lots of blood. Blood he may have spilt, blood that may have dripped from his own wounds, blood from the ones he _loved. _What a strange fantasy that he lived in.

Tsk. He furrowed his arched eyebrows in annoyance. He knew better than to think about fantasies. Running his hands through his pink unruly kept hair, he slouched down into the worn out chair, his mind traveling elsewhere.

* * *

"_Oi old man what is that?" A younger smaller version of himself yelled at the large beast standing in front of him. His eyes were beaming with anticipation as he pointed towards the stars in the night sky. The creature just looked at him and gave him a small smile._

"_Igneel?" _

"_That my son is what we call the moon."_

"_But I thought the moon was round…" He said in utter confusion, looking at the now crescent shaped moon._

_A small chuckle came from the large dragon. "My boy have you not been paying attention in your studies." It was not a question but a statement. The boy just let out a small yelp, staring innocently into the mystical creatures eyes._

_Igneel turned his long neck, facing the now so called moon. "That is the moon my boy, it's currently in a different stage of its life, a waxing crescent, occurring after every new moon." After finishing his simple explanation, he looked at the boy before him, his eyes seem to be on fire after hearing this, intrigued with every word that he said._

"_Wow, that's sooo cool, you have to teach me more Igneel!" The boy yelled with so much excitement he could have exploded._

"_Of course you have so much yet to learn….my son."_

* * *

A small smile lay plastered across his face, memories like that were always pleasant to have. But soon forth a frown replaced said smile. Yes, it may be hard to believe but he was raised by a dragon, abandoned at such a young age, he didn't even know who his real parents were. But that was life was it not? Igneel was the dragon's name, and he considered him to be his father, the only real family like figure in his heart. He was powerful, large, intelligent, protective and very red. He had taught him everything he needed to know, math, culture, language, astrology, history, how to write and the greatest secret of all.

The devastating power of a dragon.

But in the end he had abandoned him too, left him in the forest where they had met, and had made fond memories. Right? Damnit, no that was not it he knew it. Igneel was the best damn thing to happen to him as an infant, a toddler, as a man. He taught him everything, everything he needed to know to survive in this world, where power and greed corrupts the soul and mind. The man stiffened at this thought. Sure not the whole world was filled with the purest of souls, but with the birth of something little, it can very well turn into a very nasty outcome. Where there is corruption, chaos will unfold, and it will spread like a wildfire. Who would be the martyr, who would be the savior when the time comes?

Now glaring daggers at the wall ahead of him, it usually was not like him to get pissed off so easily, but when it came to Igneel he couldn't help it. "Fuck." He was not going to start questioning Igneel's decisions, or intentions now or ever. He will find him. He was willing to put his life on the line for him.

"_With this power comes great sense of responsibility my boy, but I feel as if you're old enough to know what you are capable of, to protect or to destroy, it is your fate to decide."_

These words had hit him hard later on in his life; the power of a dragon was fierce, and very powerful. Beyond anything anyone has ever seen in all magnitudes. The power to slay dragons. Magic thought to be lost and very ancient. He never used the power for evil intentions, but in fact fought in the name of justice, to bring light to the hope of the world. Sadly the world did not want him, nor did it accept him. They saw him as a monster, a horrible, terrifying creature, it broke him apart. Shattered his being inside out. The memories, oh the memories attacked him at full force. Slamming his hands to his eyes, his body shaking, sweat rolling down his forehead, gasps proceeded to escape his mouth.

_Flames. Flames, they were everywhere, people screaming, the screams were everywhere, painful agonizing screams. A large crash echoed around the setting. Young children running away from someone, __**something**__, crying the whole way, pleading for their lives._

"GOD DAMNIT!" He roared at the top of his lungs, suddenly his right hand became ignited with sparks of flame, anger filled his eyes, as he slammed his fists into the nearby table, it exploded into tiny wood fragments, soon reduced to nothing but ashes as the flames shimmered against his eyes.

When was the last time he ever had a panic attack like this? He could not remember.

* * *

"Ugh…" He groaned, shifting uncomfortably in his bed, he rolled off it, deciding he had enough sleep. A whole day was more than enough sleep for him, even if he did lose a bit of himself the other day. Suddenly a pang of guilt hit his stomach, he had not told _them_ that he would not be coming in that day. Screw it. They knew what he had to be going through, hopefully they can understand his reasoning's the next time he drops in. His dark eyes trailed down to his right bicep. Flexing slightly, he stared down at the red tattoo imprinted on his muscular skin. It was the stamp of his guild.

Fairy Tail.

One of the most powerful and well known magic guilds in all of Fiore. And yes he was part of it, they had gladly brought him in with open arms. For the first time, beside's Igneel of course, he knew he had a nakama. A place to truly call home. They were not like all the people outside of the doors of the guild. Reckless. Yes. Hard to coop with? Yes. Annoying. Damn right. But the one thing he has noticed the years he has been in there, they always knew how to keep you smiling and on your feet. Even if you went to hell and back, with vouchers included.

Fairy Tail was always a guild that people gossiped about, good or bad, it went both ways. Their intentions were always good, but hell, like he said, they were very reckless, and always owed large amounts of money to the council. Hell he's surprised the council hasn't shut the damn place down yet. But if it wasn't for Fairy Tail, the land of Fiore would probably be in the shits right now. He simply chuckled at the thought of Fairy Tail being revoked of its title as number one Guild and being rendered sovereign.

Not only did he consider himself to be wanted in his beloved guild, but there was something more to it. Something that dates back to his childhood with Igneel. His adoptive father.

"_My dear son, there is going to come a time, in which I can no longer keep teaching you my knowledge, and it shall be up to you, to discover who you really are."_

"_But why Igneel, why can't you keep teaching me, and to discover who I am…that's silly I am me…"_

_Only one word came out from the elder dragon's mouth, and this would leave the boy to ponder for duration of times._

"_Fate."_

"Exactly what do you mean Igneel." He muttered under his breath staring outside the window from his room. The sun was rising to its peak in the sky. Placing his arm over his eyes, shielding them from the rays, he moved from the window, working his way to the front door, he should be heading to the guild right about no-

"NATSSUUUU!" An overgrown blue feline came crashing through his door. "Wait whaa- oomph." Before the dragon slayer can utter another word, the talking cat's hand collided with his face. Oh it wasn't every day you get backhanded by a flying talking cat, but hell he has seen it all. "What the fuck was that for, Happy!?" Glaring daggers once again that day, this time at his best friend. Happy just looked at him, with that all so familiar face that Natsu knew. In defeat he let out a sigh.

"Look I'm sorry, something happened, I wasn't able to make it…."

"Mmm, did you remember _it_ again?"

"….."

"Natsu, don't worry…let's go to the guild, we can talk about it there." The cat suggested, landing onto his best friend shoulder, pointing out his now thrashed door, which was ruthlessly broken into. They can fix that later. "I was just on my way Happy." He responded rather slowly. Happy just looked him in the eyes and nodded, with a rather strange tinkle in his eyes. Natsu raised an eyebrow at his small companion. "What's with the look?"

"We need to find you a woman ASAP."

"What did you say- But Happy cut him off before he can finish. "Ahahaha, Natsu I'm just kidding, you should'a seen your face." The cat cried out in tears, his arm holding his stomach as he laughed hysterically at Natsu's eyes which were bulging out of his face. "Tsk, damn cat." Natsu said, lifting the now surprised cat by his head and flicking him off his shoulder in annoyance. He began to follow the path to the large town of Magnolia. Hopefully his _beloved_ friend would not crack another joke to annoy him further as they began to traverse to the center of the city.

"Natsu, you need to get laid."

A large vein popped out the corner of Natsu's forehead, his temper flared, and he literally felt his face heat up from embarrassment. Oh he had spoken to soon.

* * *

The lake city of Magnolia was bustling with life today. Young children experimenting with their new found magic's that their parents had taught them, not giving a care for the world as they ran down the streets of the city, with playful grins on their visages. Merchants yelling out to the pedestrians to check out their stalls, promising good bargains to die for, exotic items, and magic's only obtainable from farther lands in Fiore. People bumped into one another as the streets began to be filled rather quickly. Yup this was the city of Magnolia, and the home of the infamous Fairy Tail.

Natsu glanced to the left side of the city, a rather large beautiful image embraced him. A small breeze of wind flew by, his bangs following its direction. Small waves of gentle water hit the sandy shore of the city, it was the mid-point of the city. This is where the beautiful Lake Scilliora presented itself to the world. The water glistened in the sun, shining like emeralds, it was a magnificent sight to behold. Nothing felt as pure as watching this lake, and the residents renting out small boats to travers onto mid lake, with happy expressions on their face, couples re falling in love all over again from previous experienced moments on the lake. Natsu quickly grimaced at the thought of couples. H..he didn't really have fond memories of "love."

"Aye, Natsu, we are approaching the guild!" Happy called out, as he flew off his shoulder heading upwards to the small hill, insight was a large building. Breaking out into a jog, in just moments he caught up to his flying friend, who was now flying motionless in the air staring at the large arch sign that bestowed itself on the exterior of the brownish-tan building. "Fairy Tail." Natsu examined the sign carefully, they must have put this up yesterday, the guild had just recently changed locations of their headquarters the week before. Looking around the building he took note of the banners of their fairy sprite insignia located here and there. He smiled.

"Well let's go on in, I'm fucking starving!"

"Hai!"

* * *

The large guild doors slammed open, as two figures stepped in with sheepish grins. "HEY, Mirajane, I'm hungry, bring something up for me and H-" Natsu wasn't able to finish his request as a rather cold fist came into contact with his mouth. He went flying back to the door with a loud slam following immediate after impact. Narrowing his eyes he stood back up, a bit of blood present now on his bruised lips, wiping it off with the sleeve of his vest, he glared at his attacker.

"Oi what the fuck was that for you freak?"

"Shut up flame head!The voice continued from there. "Where the hell were you yesterday, we had a mission to do, or did your peanut size brain forget?" The dark blue hair man responded. He stood at the same height as Natsu, with the same slender muscular physique, his hair was a few inches longer then Natsu's but looked more natural and well kept. His bangs reach down to his dark colored eyebrows, almost covering his cerulean pupils. An unknown scar was present above his left eye, probably gained when he was just a little boy. With further observations the man was completely shirtless, his skin bare for the whole world to see, as a silver chain dangled from his long neck. The fucker never could keep his clothes on for at least five minutes. He crossed his arms, covering his blue guild stamp that was still visible on his finely toned chest.

"Oh cut the crap Gray, you know for a fact you could have handled that mission without me, or is your pathetic ice magic growing weaker by the day." The fire mage retorted with a snicker. By now some members of the guild were gathering around, excited to see a clash of fire and ice. Specifically a long haired brunette, who specializes in card magic's, was now going around taking wagers on who will win this brawl. "Oh you wanna bet flame breath?" Gray responded with a mischievous grin, as he took a familiar battle stance. He opened the palm of his left hand, and placed his knuckles of the opposite hand against it. Small magical notations began to form around the tips of his fingers, as ice crystals began to emit around him.

Flames danced in the eyes of the dragon slayer. His body core temperature begin to raise, he grinned mechanically, it's been awhile since they last fought, no they weren't enemies, but merely competitors, rivals, or as the guild mates will call them, "idiotic brothers." Natsu allowed his right hand to be overcome by flames, as smoke made its way to his nostrils. "I'm all fire'd up now icicle boy, get ready for thi…." He trailed off, something caught the attention of his nose. A scent he never smelled in the guild was present.

The flames encased around his arms disappeared and his fiery temperature tuned down, Natsu desire to fight had ceased to exist. What the hell? Gray took noticed of this, not once has Natsu ever back down from a fight with him, and was the little punk finally scared to fight him? Gray smirked, he let his arms fall to his sides as he spoke up. "What's the matter smokey, lost all your flare all of a sudden?" Natsu just stared past him in utter confusion, something was going on in that man's head. "Natsu?" Gray called out his name with a raised eyebrow.

Natsu did not respond. He simply pushed Gray to the side as he walked off to the direction he was currently focused on. Everyone now realizing there would be no brawls today, went back to their original business and places within the guild, planning guild missions, drinking more alcohol, or just relaxing in the premises of the guild compounds.

_This scent…it smells so surreal, so intoxicating_, it was causing his mind to go foggy. He wanted to know where it came from…no…where it was coming from, he needed to find the source. He took note of the mysterious scent as he sniffed the air again, it was sweet, like honey and yet smelled so natural, like the meadows in the hillside, no…more like the forests near his small house. Natsu licked his lips as he took one final step in the direction where the scent was coming from. His eyes wandered and something caught his immediate attention.

_Blonde_

Surely enough, a girl with long golden hair, which flowed gracefully past her shoulders, was sitting at a stool close to the guilds bar. Looking closer, Natsu saw that she had a small cute side ponytail on the left side of her head tied with a small blue ribbon. _Cute_? Wait Natsu never called anything or anyone cute, yet he's gawking at this girl he's never seen before. And what happened next shocked Natsu. The girl slowly turned her head around.

Chocolate colored eyes met jet black.

Natsu let out a gasp, as his heart clenched in his chest at the sight of beautiful hazel. A weird tingling sensation made itself present deep within his stomach. His fingers twitched nervously, why was he acting like such a nervous wreck?

And then she gave him one of the most beautiful smiles, with the smallest set of dimples, that he has ever seen in his eighteen years of existence. It was a smile of an angel, only the purest of all smiles. And she was smiling at him of all people. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Damn."


	2. Enter The Celestial Mage

_**Hello everyone Red here, I want to say thanks for the people who reviewed, it really made my day **_

_**PhoenixDragon- Awkward but I did not make any references last chapter 0_0, if you can point out where that would be great, I'm not really into spidey, I'm a batman guy haha**_

_**Anyways here is the next chapter, slowly I want my chapters to get longer and longer, I'll be going on a trip to Chicago this weekend so I may or may not update this weekend, latest next chapter will be up by Monday-Wednesday, I also start my senior year in High School Tuesday, but I promise I'll get 1-2 chapters uploaded a week. Well then enjoy this chapter and please feedback is greatly appreciated as it gives me inspiration to write and helps out on how I can improve this story! :3**_

* * *

Today has been one of the most interesting days he's had in quite some time. From waking up with an agonizing headache, to getting slapped around by his pestering joker of a friend, and being milliseconds away from potentially burning down a section of the guild. Of course the cause being that freak of a man called "Gray." It was safe to say _all_ of the blame could have been pointed to the ice-mage if a brawl did occurred. Well in Natsu's mind he believed that to be the scenario that will unfold. But that had only been part of the story, oh no, that was nothing compared to what was happening right now. What happened you ask? _Her_. She was the main point of interest today. Hell she was the reason he was standing here right now mouth slightly agape and eyes wide. His heart was surely trying to break free from his ribcage, how the hell could anyone not hear this ridiculous pounding protruding from his chest? Every beat, he heard, over and over again. All six of his senses, senses he relied on at such a young age to keep him alive this far in this day of age, were all focused on this _one _girl that sat before him.

The sound of something sliding across the wooden floor of the guild snapped Natsu out of his trance. Opening and closing his eyes, he watched as the cause of the sudden noise stood upright from the stool, sliding it back to its original place. Natsu gulped as he saw the woman make her way towards him slowly. He finally took notice of her whole appearance, the way she walked, and the way she presented herself. With each step she took and with each sway of her hips, it looked so graceful, so elegant, and so _ladylike_. It's as if she was born into a high status bearing family. But she didn't seem to have the arrogant air around her that he's used to seeing people with riches having, nor did she seem to be bothered with the rather large ruckus that had occurred earlier. It felt like she admired the aura the guild held. Everyone here was equal, nothing was holding anyone back, and you can be whomever you wanted to be. The pink haired man was no idiot, he may not know this girl, or why she was here, but for some strange reason, he knew for a fact she wanted to be here. Like she had no other place in the world that she wanted be but here in the guild.

She wore a rather tight blue and white collared vest that clung to her rather large chest like it was her second skin. His eyes trailed down to her slender hour glass figure shape, she wore a simple short blue skirt, which was held in place by a brown leather belt. And finally his eyes reached her legs. _Oh my lord._ She had long tone legs that went on for miles, he could tell she worked out, or participated in some sort of psychical enduring fitness as she kept herself in shape. A small jingling noise caught his attention. He raised his eyebrow as he saw a key ring clipped onto the side of her belt with a set of keys. Stellar spirit mage? This girl continued to capture the dragon's slayer interest with each and every passing moment as he observed her. The girl finally took notice of his stares, and a pink tinge stained her cheeks and she turned her head slightly in what he assumed was embarrassment. Damnit! She had caught him staring her down like some piece of meat.

"Um, Hello?" Once again he was taken out of a trance, this time by a girl's voice. It was _her_ voice. It sounded so _perfect_, soft, sweet and enticing. Was this girl truly from the heavens? Everything he took note of about her screamed angel. Her hair, her eyes, her voice, her magnificent beauty, and the way she presented herself to the world with no ounce of care. The way her pale ivory skin seem to glisten in the lights of the guild, like she held the spotlights of an opera performance. With no doubt in his mind, he knew that her skin was rich, silky and smooth. Who was this girl? No, who was this fallen angel standing before him?

"Uhh…wait what…huh?" The surprised dragon slayer said rather sheepishly as he stared down at the girl. He was about a good head taller than her or so. When the hell did she get in front of him? "I said 'are you the Great Natsu everyone is talking about'?" She repeated herself with a small laugh. Her laugh was like music to his ears, the greatest symphony of all, and it was still ringing in his ears. He could literally listen to her laugh for a life time and not get tired of it. It was soft and filled withed so much happiness. Yet her eyes were a different story, they were filled with so many untold emotions. "Yes." He responded and soon regretted it. _Yes?_ Is that all he really just said to the girl? Damn he was a fucking idiot, he might as well go on back to Gray and agree with his earlier remark on having a peanut size brain. How pitiful.

The blonde girl extended out her hand to the man. "Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." _Lucy_. So that was her name. Natsu stared at her hand, it was opening, waiting, pleading for his acceptance. His mind quickly wandered to how her hands would feel against is, how soft and smooth they were, how war…what the hell was he thinking? _Get a grip, what if ice princess is watching? _In a split second his hands were on hers, shaking it like he had known her for years.

"Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." He flashed his trademark grin.

* * *

_It felt like only it was just yesterday, but yet here she stood, perched on a branch of tree, she casually watched as the sunset took over the sky. It warmed her heart to watch the beautiful setting unfold in her very eyes. The majority of her life she had spent trying to escape, trying to be free, trying to live, and living to be her. Not to be a false image created by her tyrant of a father. A small cold breeze pasted by briefly, as her golden locks of hair followed suit. If she knew one thing about the outside world greatly, it was the sky. It was like the sea, one moment it could be so beautiful, peaceful, calming, relaxing, so open and free. Something she wished she had while she was still locked in that prison she had once called home. A peace of mind. Yet the sky had its moments when it was very dangerous and treacherous like the great seas that covered most of the world, creating rain storms, soul freezing blizzards, high speed winds known to destroy little parts of civilization and much more. But what truly amazed her was the fact, the sky never stayed the same, it was ever-changing. You could look at it at dusk or twilight, from anywhere in the world and see a different sky, a different day. She had always felt as if the blue sky had a different story to tell her every day. With a small smile, she pushed back a strand of hair that caught into her line of sight of the beautiful lake city Magnolia. _

_She had been staring at this city since the sun began its descent to the earth, soon the moon will replace the large star's disappearance. Magnolia was calling for her. No, more specifically a certain mage guild was calling out for her. A guild she was hoping to start a new life with, a place to make new friends, meet new people, grow strong with one another, embrace each other, to have something to live for and a place to call home. Its name was known by all in Fiore, in the time of hope and despair they were there to lift you back on your feet and tell you to keep fighting onwards, to never stop believing and never to give up hope. And besides the fact the guild was plastered all over news articles about the ridiculous large amount of moneys owed to the cities and council of all magic guilds for the destruction caused from their endeavors. But that was something for a different day. The guild name…._

_Fairy Tail._

_The girl smiled once more as she casually jumped off the branch and landed gracefully on the patch of grass below her. It was time to start her new life. To not live behind a fake image of her father, a false smile, a fake laugh, a cold heart and nothing to live for. She was tired of living behind large amounts of money, being forced to wear expensive dresses all girls dreamed about and being taught the proper conduct of lady with social power. It sickened her very soul to the stomach. But what really riled her up were the never ending marriage proposals and one day she would have to stand idly by and watch her father pick the perfect suitor for the highest paying dowry, the one that held most influence, power and money. A stinging sensation stung her now misty eyes. Rubbing them fiercely, she would not cry anymore, she was not under his influence any longer, she would no longer waver, she was her own person. She had every right to choose who to wed was she not? Deep down she wanted to find her prince charming, a man to sweep her off her feet, someone who was strong, loyal and very protective of her. She wanted to fall truly in love, with a man she knew that did not care for power, nor his social status, only for her wellbeing. _

_Sighing dreamily she knew that would come to be nothing short of a miracle. She had found herself in the center of Magnolia from the looks of all the merchant stalls and cat calls she was receiving from the men. The blonde could have sworn the whole town knew about her presence, men of all types and she even caught a lass ogling her! Beauty knew no bounds right? But the next person to "bump" into her would be in for one hell of a time, literally. She had been groped three times now and still counting. There goes the idea of finding prince charming in this town. With a roll of eyes she continued on her way to the legendary guild of Fairy Tail. Hopefully the men there were more respectful than the last few she had encountered so far in this town. Who knows maybe she will meet the legendary blue haired Fullbuster an mage who had the power to create anything out of ice, or even the Great Salamander, a man who can eat flames, she had heard the ongoing townspeople gossip about, that and among other things from the guild itself._

_The blonde followed a current from the beautiful lake of Scilliora, there seemed to be multiple pathways within the city that lead to different destinations, and the residents seemed to be happy to use small boats to traverse from place to place. She imagined herself spending the night with a young man, wooing her in the small boat. Oh what she would give for that type of romance. "Oi miss watch your step, make sure you don't fall in!" Two men happily said with large cat like smiles as they waved at her from their small boat as they floated by. Of course Lucy took no notice as she continued to trek down the path. After a few minutes of walking she finally arrived at her destination. "Fairy Tail…" She smiled as she stared down the large guild doors with large chocolate orbs. Oh the blonde knew for a fact any second someone would catch her staring at the doors like she's never seen the contraption in her life._

"_Well are you going in or not?" An old yet powerful voice spoke out of the blue. Startled the blonde spun around so fast she could have sworn she would get a painful whiplash. "Oh I'm so sor..." She started to apologize, but realized she was not facing anyone in particular only air, in confusion she bobbed her head left and right. Nada, zip nothing. That was strange she could have sworn she had heard someone._

"_Ahem." The voice came again, this time followed by a clearing of the throat. With wide eyes, the girl looked down to see a short man sporting a rather large grin. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you at all, and it was so rude of me." The girl had never said apologies like this so fast in her life. Oh she could feel the heat building up on her face. Great she would die from embarrassment before being accepted into the greatest guild of all time. Mother would be so proud. "Relax my child, it's no problem, are you by any chance interested in joining Fairy Tail, miss?" The old man said with a tilt of his head, the yellow jester hat making a small jingle in the process. The blond noted the wrinkles present on the old man, the proof of the years he had overcome and possible large amounts of stress that lay on his shoulders. He had a rather funny long silver moustache and a matching yellow jump suit like outfit to match his hat. Heck if it wasn't for his age, she could dare say he was a spitting image of a real jester. She held back at a smile as she answered his pending question. "Why yes, as matter a fact, I' am looking for the guild master, It's been my lifelong dream to join the legendary guild called Fairy Tail!" The old man noticed the burning passion that lit her eyes, he had remembered that face from years ago when a familiar pink haired brat had stood at the previous guild doors. _

"_My lovely lady, if I may ask, what is it do you seek from this guild?"_

_She knew word for word, the answer to this question, she had prayed every night to the heavens for this, engraved it to her soul, etched it to her heart and carved it into her mind. What she truly wanted in her life._

"_A place to call home, people to call my Nakama…a family sir." It felt as if she had poured out her whole tire being from just saying those words. But it was true every single word she had meant. She felt her eyes beginning to become moist, tears once again stung her eyelids, she was on the verge of crying in front of a man she had never met in her life. Oh her mother would be truly proud of her. The old man had simply nodded in response._

"_Welcome to the guild."_

_Wait, did she just hear right? "W-what?" She choked out in disbelief at this man's word._

"_The name is Makarov, I am the guild master of Fairy Tail, but I much be preferred to be called father my child, everyone here in the guild I acknowledge to be as my own." G-guild master!? Her mind nearly exploded as the man before her revealed himself to be the guild master of the infamous Fairy Tail! Not only that, but he had accepted her in the guild in a heartbeat, no questions asked! Well one…but that's beside the point, she was expecting a test of the wits, or a battle with one of the strongest mages in the guild for acceptance._

"_My child take my hand, let me lead you into your new future, your new home and your new Nakama to be."_

_She accepted his hand as he guided her to the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she was sure she was going to die from happiness. Her dreams were slowly becoming reality right before her eyes! The blonde heard a creaking of the guild doors as a blinding light escaped the guild doors, capturing her vision._

"_My child what is your name?"_

"…_.L-Lucy Heartphilia." Makarov nodded his head as he led the way into the guild._

* * *

Yesterday's events continued to replay in Lucy's head, she continued to smile as she relived every image and every moment. Raising her right hand to her face, she examined the pink insignia that now lay imprinted on her skin. She was rather surprised the moment she had walked into the guild, everyone was doing their own little thing with little care in the world around them. Gossips here and there, people showing off their magic abilities, mission briefings, she even saw a woman out drink all of the guys in the guild, what was her name again? Oh yes Cana. The brunette hair woman had walked away without a single sway in steps, she was not one to mess with when it came to drinking. Not only that but she had met a tall bulky man that went by the name of Elfman, he had spiky silver hair, but seemed to have an obsession with the definition of being a man. Lucy eyes nearly bulged out when he had nearly beaten a man for not sincerely thanking his sister Mirajane for the drinks on the house. Mirajane was his older sister, she was some short of goddess Lucy had concluded. She was incredibly beautiful, like her brother she also had long silver hair that went past her back, but she kept parts of it raised in the front with a red hair tie. Mirajane was also the cover girl of Fairy Tail, not only was she beautiful but she had a dangerously curved body. Now Lucy did not explore that dangerous path as a woman, but she was not scared to judge other females. There had been a few other people she had met in the guild, like Levy, she was a total bookworm like herself. The blue haired girl had somehow managed to convince Lucy to let her be the first person to read the novel she was currently working on. Levy was escorted by two men Jet and Droy, they all seem to be all really close friends and were in a team she recalled was called Shadow Gear. There was many more mages she was introduced to but she still hadn't really taken the time to remember most of their names. She felt bad, but overtime she knew she would know everyone in the guild and heck she's only been in the guild for a day! Give her a break.

Sadly there was no sign of the "Great Salamander" who she found out was called "Nastu" and the ice mage "FullBuster" had gone off to complete a mission with a woman called…Titania was it? She was told she was an S-class ranked mage, meaning she was one of the most powerful mages in the guild along with a few other S-class mages. Of course she had heard all this from Mirajane, which Lucy had taken a mental note the bartender enjoyed to gossip. Lucy had overheard later on that the two mages had return from their missions, but she still had not caught a single glimpse of the two. With a sigh she toyed with the straw in her beverage that Mirajane had happily given her earlier. Hopefully sometime soon she would meet the three mages that plagued her mind.

"HEY, Mirajane, I'm hungry, bring something up for me and H-." Lucy had heard a man yell out, following after was a rather large slam. She turned her head around to find out what the commotion was about. To no lucks prevail, most of the guild was now surrounding two figures. She really could not see what was going on, but glimpses of blue and pink caught the corner of her eyes. Lucy raised a single eyebrow at the situation, were two people really fighting, right smack in the middle of the guild?

"Aye Luuuce!" Hearing her name the blonde turned to her left, standing right next to her was Cana. "Oh Cana what's going on?" Lucy asked questioningly. "Just two morons duking it out like two little kids." The older woman replied with a snort. The blonde nodded, well looks like she was right that there was a fight about to take place in the guild. But now the real question was: between who?

"Would you like to take a wager?"

"On what exactly?" Lucy asked somewhat confused at the bizarre question the brunette had just asked her. "On who will win the brawl of course!" Cana smiled as she continued to speak. "It's Fire vs. Ice, so far both have an equal amount of bets on their head, would you like to change that?" Lucy paused for a moment, _fire and ice….could it be?_

"I'm sorry Cana, but I'm currently all out of money, but if you'd like to know, I would put my money on the fire mage."

"Ah,figured he would be your type." With a wink, the older woman walked away, before the surprised blonde could even respond to what she had just said. Now she just sat there pondering on what she had said. _What did she mean by my type...Lucy didn't even know who the fire mage was?_ With the shrug of a shoulder, Lucy downed the rest of her drink that had grown warm over the last few minutes of neglection. She took notice as the guild grew quieter, the commotion seemed to die down. From the corners of her eye she saw that she was in fact right, many of the members of the guild returned to their original places in the guild and continued on with their tasks at hand. For some strange reason, her instincts told her to turn around and take a peek. And like the good girl she is, she followed her gut instinct.

Jet black eyes met Chocolate.

* * *

His gaze was deep and intense. Petrifying but in a good way. _Jet black_. Just like a raven, his eyes were exactly like a raven, beautiful, and very mysterious. It felt as if he was looking into her soul, analyzing every single emotion she has ever felt, looking through all the memories she held close to her heart, and there was something else she saw in his eyes that she really could not make out. Was it pain, sin or sorrow? She did not know, but what she did know, was she knew exactly how he felt. A life of pain, a life of wishing, a life of dreaming, she knew how it all felt, the feeling of being alone in the world. So she did the one thing she knew that would always keep her going. Lucy gave the man a smile from the deepest corners of her heart. He gasped and turned his head to the side as his face slightly turned red.

Lucy found herself moving from her spot at the bar and was soon taking slow steps towards the man. She took in the man's features. Simply to say, this man was literally on fire. His hair was an unusual pink color, and looked like he had just woken up from slumber not too long ago, to say at least it was cute and messy. She wanted to run her fingers through her hair and feel how soft it was. She gulped at the thought of contact with the man, running her eyes quickly down his body, she felt herself burning up with excitement. He wore a rather interesting silverish scarf with scaly features, he had on a vest that was fully opened up for the world to see his chiseled chest and perfect abdominal muscles. With each breathe he took, his muscles expanded and moved along with his movement and she couldn't help but stare at him. God crafted such a _perfect_ piece of work.

He was now looking back at her, it was now his turn to allow his eyes to wander. She watched every second as his pupils moved up and down every single inch of her. Immediately she felt the tips of her ears begin to burn and surely enough her cheeks were engulfed with flames. She couldn't help but blush as the attractive man eyed her. Their eyes locked once again in an intense gaze and the pink haired man looked utterly lost in the moment.

She was now in front of the so called Gods _perfect_ creation, muttering up all the strength in her she made an attempt of breaking him out of his trance. "Um, Hello?" She softly said staring up at the man, he was a good four inches taller than her or so. Up close she saw he had a perfect golden tan, it seemed like him and sun were the perfect friends, if she stood out in the sun to long without protection she would burn up. She slightly envied him and his skin tone. "Are you the great Natsu everyone is talking about?" Her eyes widen at the sudden question she had asked. _Stupid_

"Uhh…wait what…huh?" He responded with a cute confused expression. His voice was deep and low, it took Lucy a second to regain her posture as his voice made a warm feeling occur in the pits of her stomach. "I said 'are you the Great Natsu everyone is talking about'?" Lucy couldn't hold in her laugh anymore, this man was acting like a lost puppy, it was adorable. It was a moment before the boy whom she assumed was Natsu responded with a simple yes. _So this is the Great Salamander.._

With a smile stretched across her face she extended her hand towards the boy in front of her. "Lucy, Lucy Heartphilia." She said her name in return. Natsu stared at her hand for a minute unsure of what to do, it looked like a war was being waged inside of the poor boys head. And finally he took her hand and shook it eagerly. As soon his hands met hers, jolts of electricity ran through her hand, down to her spine. She felt the warmth radiating off his hands onto hers, it felt amazingly pleasant.

"Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." Natsu was grinning madly, his fang like teeth very apparent.

_He has a cute smile._

* * *

"Lucy Heartphilia." Natsu said to himself. That girl was rather interesting. He brought his hand up to the window of his room, blocking the view of the now full moon in the sky. _Her hands were so soft_. Shaking his head, Natsu couldn't stop thinking about their meeting earlier today. It had left him rather stunned and lost. Literally. He had felt the tingling sensation that shot through his body as he shook her hand. His body felt like it was on fire and _her_ scent was driving him insane. With every fiber in his being he could not explain it, he knew what it meant, but it just was not the same as before. _Before with her_. A pang of silver hit his mind at full force, shortly afterwards waves of guilt hit him. Swallowing his saliva, he looked out the window at the night sky.

"_Natsu."_

"_Yes?"_

"_When we get older…do you think we can fall in love?"_

"_What are you talking about…."_

"_Oh nothing you idiot…."_

"…_.."_

Natsu couldn't forget, he couldn't bring himself to…and to be honest he did not know if he could ever forget. Running his hands through his hair, he would not be getting any sleep tonight. Tonight he would be battling with himself. The past, the present and the future him. Nightmares he wishes he could not create, but how could he control himself? He knew it was only a matter of time, before the past repeats itself all over again. It was the inevitable and he knew it.

"Natsu…"

"Hmmm, what is it Happy?"

"I can't sleep."

"Well it looks like we are in the same damn boat."

"I rather you swim with the fishes and I can have the boat to myself."

"…..Bastard."

* * *

"Master, I heard that you permitted a new person to join the guild."

"Yes Titania, I have, what seems to be the problem?" Makarov said eyeing the tall girl covered head to toe in ex-equip armor. The woman seemed no older than nineteen years of age, she was young, yet looked like she's seen hell a lot more than she should in her life. Her hair was absolutely magnificent, it was beautiful, it ran down past her back, to her rear side, it was the color of blood, a perfect crimson red. Her eyes were a fierce brown, a serious expression was attached to her visage at the moment.

"What was your reasoning for doing so?" She questioned staring at him with the same serious attitude. "Well she did have a nice round ass and a hell of a rac-"The guild master was now sprawled across the floor, now sporting four new bumps on his head. Hell he's going to have a killer head ache in the morning and some mild bruising. The woman called Titania stood above him with a cold killer expression on her face as her eyes twitched in utter annoyance.

"This is no time to be a lecherous old man, Master Makarov." She said rather harshly. The short man quickly jumped up back onto his feet, his normal wide smile now replaced by a simple line. She smiled, now he was going to be serious, and it only took her four hits this time, a new record.

"Erza."

"Yes master?" She was now even more intrigued on what her master was about to tell her, with his sudden outburst of her name.

"You did see her keys, did you not?

"Why yes, yes I did, before she had left, I caught a quick glimpse, she's a celestial mage is she not, what's so important about it?"

"Her spirit may be one of the most purest I've ever seen before…her spiritual power as a mage is also very great, she does not even realize this yet."

"…."

"Not only that, but she reminded me of a certain person in this guild, she had the same aura, the exact same atmosphere around her as he did."

"Do you mean Natsu, master?"

Makarov simply nodded, as Erza crossed her arms she let a small smile take over her.

_He needs this._


	3. Enter The Newly Formed Team

_**Hello everyone welcome to the next chapter of A Dragon's Rose! I would like to thank everyone who took the time to review, it really makes my day! This chapter is a rather slow one, but it sets everything up for the next , and I have to say...well its pretty lovely haha ;)**_

_**This chapter is slightly shorter than the last, sorry about that, but I'll make up for it the next coming chapters, Promise! Anyways hope you enjoy, and as always, feedback, questions, or anything of the sort is greatly appreciated! :)**_

* * *

_How are you doing mother? Sorry it's been awhile since I've last wrote to you. TRUST ME, I have not forgotten about you, a lot has changed the past few weeks. I've moved out from the Heartfilia estate, escaping the cold clutches of father's abusive hold on me. The weight that used to be on my shoulders have shrunken considerably, I now live alone in a apartment I recently moved into. It's nice and cozy, not too big, but not too small, with a few more touches here and there, in no time I will be calling this place my new home. Oh! Speaking of homes, mother I recently joined a magic guild! The infamous Fairy Tail, the greatest magic guild in all of Fiore. There are so many powerful mages in this guild mother, I've managed to make friends with many of the guild mates and I think I left rather a positive image of myself. I hope to grow stronger, not only physically, but mentally too. I also want to grow along with the spirits you left behind with me. I know how much you cherished them and I'm beginning to realize that they are not only spirits, but beings with souls as well and with that in mind, I love them as my own._

_I plan on partaking in missions soon, the rent won't be paying itself after all. Maybe once I gather up the courage I can ask a couple of people from the guild to form some type of team? You know very well how nervous and shy I was as a child mother, nothing has changed from before, and this may be a challenging feet for me to accomplish. There's this interesting pink haired boy from the guild, he's rather loud, obnoxious, enjoys a good fight and constantly thinks with his stomach. But what's truly interesting about him mother, is his eyes. There rather dark, but beautiful in away yet at the same time mysterious. I can't put my finger on it, but behind those eyes, holds a different person, someone lost, someone searching for something, there's a story behind his eyes. This may sound silly mom, I barely know the guy, but I want to get to know more about him and unravel the mysteries behind his eyes._

_There's also this blue haired mage that the pink haired man constantly bickers with on every occasion he can get. It's rather entertaining to watch, they act like rivals and always fight over who's the better mage at everything they do. But deep down I know they knew they held a close bond, like long lost brothers, ice and fire. Irreplaceable friends. Then there's this scarlet hair woman, in which I have to say I really envy her hair, but she walked around clad in a fully body suit of metal armor! I couldn't believe it, it looked so darn heavy, and she walked around in it like it was nothing! She held a serious expression most of the time and was usually the one to stop the two boys from destroying the guild, it's as if she was the older sister of the two._

_Well mother I have to get going, I promise to write back soon about my adventures with the guild and much more! I'm always thinking of you and you're always in my heart. I love you mum. –Lucy_

Lucy put down the pen as she finished writing her letter. She smiled as she folded the letter into the envelope, closing it with a small heart sticker. Holding it close to her heart, saying a few prayers under her breath, she placed the now sealed letter in drawer of her wooden work table. _Layla Heartfilia_. That was her mother's name. Lucy had been a spitting image of her mother and she was constantly told by everyone back at the estate. She was a very kind and beautiful woman. There was no trace of evil or corruption in her soul. Her mother had been one of the most purest soul she's ever met in her whole life, everyone loved to be her in her presence! Not only that, but she was also a celestial wizard while she was still alive. A very powerful one too, being able to summon and maintain the powers of three spirits at the same time. It was a feat that very few stellar mage were able to accomplish. Looking down at edge of the table, there she saw her keys. She had inherited her mother's keys a year before leaving the manor. Over the course of her travels to Magnolia, she had acquired her own stellar spirit keys here and there. From doing odd jobs, to buying them from local merchant shops or making a pact with roaming spirits she had found.

Like she wrote in the previous letter, Lucy found herself loving every one of her spirits, even a certain light blue haired spirit that wanted her dead. She laughed at the thought, Aquarius was a rather moody spirit and had a passion of always getting on her nerves. Especially on the touchy subject of her non apparent love life. The blonde always wondered how the celestial spirit managed to snag a man of her own, with that nasty attitude of hers. But she knew the only reason why she acted that way was because of the passing of her mother. Like herself, Layla was close to all her spirits, and it all so happened that Aquarius and her held an unbreakable bond. Even with all the death threats she received from the mermaid, she knew deep down that she in fact cared for her very well being.

Each and every single one of her spirits was different. They all had different characteristics, different appearances, different personas and different mind sets. Each with their own pasts, they held memories as any other being, they felt pain like everyone else and they expressed themselves freely as a human would. This is why Lucy saw them more as simple spirits, they were her friends, her family, her everything in this world. She wouldn't know where she would be today without them, they all promised to protect the blonde haired woman with their mind, body and souls. They saw something different in their owner, not like their previous past owners, where they only used them as tools, weapons, or shields in time of need. Lucy had shown them genuine love, cared, provided and she even had shed tears for them. This is what made the blonde remarkably strong, her spirit, her charisma, her passion, and concern for everyone's well-being.

Yet she knew not every celestial mage was like her and it pained her heart as she began to realize this. Out there, in this very moment of the world, spirits were being treated harshly, like trash, being forced to do things they wish they couldn't, treated more like servants than actually beings with a working conscience and soul. How could people be so cruel? Lucy could never see herself simply using her spirits for her own selfish accomplishments, for power, for greed and to simply use them to take her hits in battle? No, she would never stoop down to that level. She made a promise to her mother and to herself, that she would treat all her spirits with the outmost kindest, love them like her own and give them all the recognition in the world. After all, they were living beings like her.

Sighing she stood up from the chair, walking towards to the window near her small pink bed, she peeked her head out of it. It was a bit past noon, the marketplace surely had to be open by now, she wanted to check it out, as a magic store had caught her attention. There was a certain spirit key she has been looking for some quiet time now, hopefully the store had what she was looking for. Picking up the keys to her apartment, she walked out the front door, making sure to close it shut and locking it. With one final glance and a tug of the doorknob, it did not budge with a smile she was satisfied that no one could break in, hey it was better be safe than sorry, right?

* * *

As the lone blonde walked down to the market square of Magnolia she allowed her mind to drift to the last few days. After her encounter with Natsu, it was short lived, as a certain blue haired man had thrown a bottle at the back of his head. Surely enough all hell broke loose right after the shards of glass broke into a million pieces at the rough contact with the pink haired man's head. Punches flew, curses where exchanged and magic's with equal amount of intensity were bestowed for the whole guild to see. Of course no one did a thing but laugh and gladly drank their alcohol as the boys tired themselves out, neither one admitting defeat, apparently this was an everyday occurrence and the blonde would expect nothing less being in their presence. Before things got to out of hand, "Titania" would make herself present and stop the two buffoons who thought first with their fists than their minds. It was a sight to see, two strong male mages cowering in fear of the scarlet haired woman. She must be very powerful to be able to get a reaction like that from those two. The celestial mage and ex-quip user really did not speak to one another, but there were the occasional glances and smiles here and there, she was a very busy woman so to speak.

Not only that, but she had met the Dragon's slayer best friend, it was a talking flying cat! Lucy was shocked at first, but why was she not surprised, Fairy Tail held a lot of interesting characters. To be honest she had thought the cat was a doll at first, but it then it started speaking, his name was Happy, and she found out that he _**really **_loved fish. Not only was he cute, but he was actually quiet clever and a jokester. Occasionally pranking members of the guild and making rather crude remarks to his best friend. The guild was very lively and she enjoyed the time she had spent there so far. She hadn't gone on any missions yet, but eventually she would ask Natsu and Gray to accompany her on her first few, and if all goes well maybe they could form a team! A bright smile formed on her face at the thought. When the guild was not being rowdy, she had found herself sitting at the bar listening to Mirajane's crazy stories and gossip about other members in the guild. Either that or she would discuss popular novels recently released in the past or upcoming hits with the marine haired scholar. Levy, Lucy noticed to be a very cheerful and outgoing girl. She always had a story to tell and a smile embracing her features at all times, she was like a small child that was locked in a candy stored and had all the delicious sweets to herself.

"Ah, here we are." Lucy said to herself as she stopped in front of a small shop. To the side of the building a small sign read "All sorts of Magical goods for mages of all types." Well hopefully they had what she was looking for, opening the wooden door she took a few steps in, examining the small store, all sorts of magic antiques laid plastered on the walls, the counter and shelves of the store. It looked more of a thrift store more than anything else. Squinting her eyes she observed every inch of the store, with no luck she bobbed her head in defeat. "Excuse me miss, is there something that I can help you with?" An old man's voice could be heard coming from the back of the store, which she assumed belonged to the stores clerk. "Why yes, I'm looking for a certain key, but I see you don't have any in stock." Lucy responded, peeking her head around the corner, she saw the clerk coming out from the back with a small wooden box. "Oh so you're a celestial mage?" He questioned, with a nod he smiled. "We don't get many of your type of mages, and when we do, they tend to buy out most of the selected keys in stock."

The old man went on to further explain how they keep celestial keys in the back, as they are rare to come by. "We only have one key in stock, the key of the "Nikora"." With this statement the girl's eyes shined in excitement, that key was the one she was looking for! Seeing the opportunity of a sale, the clerk clicked open the locked wooden box and revealed single silver key to the girl. Observing the shining key, the handle of it was white, encircled by a sky blue color, with a white image printed on it, what seemed to be some type of dog. "The Canis Minor." Lucy whispered to herself, it was not a spirit specializing in combat, rather it was used by lower classed spirit mages as a companion or pet. She had found herself feeling lonely while traveling at times and did not want to bother her spirits of their duties in the other planes of existence to keep her company, but with this spirit, it was meant to accompany her!

"How much is the key worth?"

"20,000 jewels my good lady." Lucy eyes bulged at the way overpriced tag on the spirit key. _Crap_. Why was a key like this worth so much? She had not brought nearly enough to cover the costs of the key. _Okay Lucy, you're a young beautiful dime and he's an old man, time to put the looks to the work._ With a lick of her pink lips, the blonde leaned over the counter, making sure to expose the valley of her large cleavage to the man, putting on a seductive look in her eyes, she bit down on her lower lip as she stared at the now gaping man with twinkles in her eyes. "Now sir, could you please tell me price of key again?" Lucy said in a low pleading tone. _Gotcha_.

"19,000, just for you miss!" The man beamed gracefully with a look of satisfaction at the free show he just received from the young girl. Lucy felt as if her whole world had turned upside down, her stomach dropped ten folds as her mind turned blanked. She felt as if her soul was being ripped from her body. Was her body, her beauty, her pride as a woman really only worth one thousand measly jewels?! Oh my, she felt more worthless than a sea urchin.

"Oi Lucy!" She turned her head as she heard the familiar voice of the pink haired man. _Natsu!_ Oh please, she hoped with every fiber of her being that he did not just witness her display of being…being. _Naughty. _Her mind finishing the thought for her. The pink haired man approached her with a grin on his face. "Tsk tsk, seducing the salesmen for a good bargain, eh?" For the second time that day Lucy felt as if the whole world was against her, as the dragon slayer just smiled at her waiting for a response. "Um, no it was not like that…uh I was just…" She couldn't even speak from the embarrassment, let alone make up an excuse for her rather discreet display of seduction to get what she wanted. The dragon slayer slammed his hand down on the counter, jewels escaped his hands as they went flying here and there, staring into the old man's eyes, "Is this enough?" Natsu asked, as the old man looked down at the sudden payment, then back at him with a nod. "More than enough."

Lucy looked on as she watched her friend pay for the key, turning to face her, he smiled as he tossed the silver key at her. Clumsily she caught it in both of her hands, the guilt was building up in her stomach already, and she could not possibly allow Natsu to pay the whole price for her sake! "Wait Natsu, you cannot just pay for me like that!" She called out after him. "Don't worry about it, it's better that then offering up your body, right?" He said turning his head to look back at her with a smirk present on his face. Well he did have a point, but she would never go to that extent for anything. "Well, at least let me repay you, I'd feel bad…" Lucy trailed off as she began to follow him out of the store.

"No, consider it a present from a friend, now hurry up Gray is waiting for us outside, slowpoke." Sighing the girl nodded her head in defeat as she sped her pace up, now standing side by side with the fire mage. She stared at the man walking besides her. _That was nice of him_. A familiar warm sensation found its way into Lucy's stomach once again as she thought of Natsu's "gift" to her; it felt as if he was her boyfriend, showering her with pretty little gifts. Shaking her head, what was she thinking? He's just a friend.

* * *

"Hey Grey, Happy!" Natsu called out to his friends, hints of laughter present in his voice. _Oh no he wouldn't._ Lucy thought to herself, was Natsu really going to tell their fellow guild mates with what just conspired? Gray and Happy who were just standing there waiting for Natsu return, were surprised to see Lucy walking along with the dragon slayer. She had thought Mirajane and possibly Cana at best were the only people in the guild that were capable of gossip, apparently she was wrong.

"Oh hey it's Lucccccy." Happy yelled out in excitement slurring out her name rather unnecessarily, but she had to admit it was cute. Gray had simply smiled and nodded his way towards her. "You guys can't believe what just freakin' happened in there!"

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out his name in frustration. But it was too late, the flying cat and the ice mage were now intrigued with what Natsu had to say and paid no attention to her cries as they waited for the dragons slayer story.

"I walk into the store and find Blondie here, trying to seduce the salesman!" He was now pointing at the blonde who was now blushing fiercely, oh but it did not stop there. "Not only that, but the salesmen only dropped the damn price by 1,000 jewels!" Natsu couldn't hold it anymore he started to break out into laughs, as Gray just smirked the whole time, finding this to be very amusing.

"Pffft, Lucy's body is only worth 1,000 jewels, ahahaha." Now it was Happy's turn to rub it into the celestial mages face as he broke into his own session of laughter, falling from mid-flight, his eyes flowing with tears. By now Lucy felt her anger rising by the second. "Guys…." Her voice was filled with annoyance and her tiny fists were now balled up by her sides. The ice mage was the only one to take notice of the girl's sudden change of emotions, and slowly backed away. Sadly for the other two friends who were sprawled across the floors dying from laughter, took no notice. Natsu and Happy were in for it now.

In a split second the flying cat and the dragon slayer now held their hands against the now large apparent bumps present on their forehead. Lucy had struck them! "Oh what the fuck, Lucy!" Natsu cried out, as he rubbed the now bruising mark on his head. "Yeah why did you hit us Lucy, we were only laughing at you!" Happy added in his opinion, which really did not help out the situation, only further fueling the girl's ongoing annoyance. Now Gray was chuckling to himself as he saw Natsu get woman handled along with his best friend, oh the guild will be gossiping for _days._ "Humph, you guys deserved it!" Lucy said with a pout as she stared down at her friends, her arms now crossed to emphasize emotion.

"So Lucy." Gray said grabbing her attention, she turned to face him, eyebrows raised. He pointed towards to the silver key now held against her chest. "I see that Natsu went in and paid for the key…I'm very curious to see what type of spirit it is?" Knowing where he was going with this, Lucy smiled. "Well I guess I can make the contract right now and show you guys." By now Natsu and Happy were standing next to Gray, watching her every movement. With a flick of her wrist and twirling the key around in her hands, her mouth slightly opened.

"I open the gate of The Canis Minor! Nikora!" The words came out of the celestial mages mouth as a small white body appeared before them. Its whole tire body was shaking irregularly, it had a rather large yellow cone shaped nose, and small black dot like eyes. Overall it was pretty scrawny. "What the hell is that thing, it looks like some kind of dog!" Natsu yelled out, it seemed like he was anticipating something on a more massive scale. Turning his back away from it pouting, he muttered something along the lines of "waste of jewels." With a roll of her eyes Lucy turned her attention to the now cute little spirit before her. Kneeling down she patted its head, with a smile she began to make the contract. "So does Tuesdays through Thursday's work good for you?" She asked the small spirit, it seemed to think as it scratched its head for a moment. "Pun Punn." It said happily nodding its head in agreement. "Did it just say Pun, Punn?" Gray whispered to Happy.

"Hai." The cat simply replied, eyeing the dog like spirit before him, it was strange, since he was a cat after all he really did not enjoy the presence of dogs. But this spirit was different. Flying down next to Lucy, he asked her for his name. "Hmmm, I think I will call him Plue!" She decided, as she watched Happy and now the spirit called Plue shaking each other's hands and doing some sort of weird dance. "Looks like they are going to get along well." Natsu said annoyance present in his voice, as he watched the scene before him.

"Is the great Dragon slayer jealous, his best friend is replacing him for a dog?" Gray remarked, trying his best to further agitate the shit out of Natsu. "Heh, you wish stripper." Natsu responded with a cold glare that could rival Gray's own magic. "Oh cut it out you two, stop acting like little kids in the middle of public." Lucy intervened, she was not really in mood having these two duking it out, especially out in the city. She wouldn't want to be responsible for any damages done to the locals property and she's sure as hell she wouldn't' have any money to pay any fines. Both Mumbled curses as they backed away from each other, the intent to fight still in their eyes. She giggled to herself, they really did act like brothers, that always bickered for no apparent reason.

"Pun, Punn Pun Puu Punn." All eyes were now locked on Plue. "Uhh what did he just say?" Gray asked looking at Lucy for confirmation. To be honest she had no clue to what Plue had just said, so she simply shrugged in response. "The little fellah said we should all form a team." Now all eyes were now locked on Natsu's random outburst. "You can understand him?!" Lucy said actually surprised from all the people in the group, Natsu was the one to understand her spirit. "I guess so." He said with a shrug not really caring at the surprised looks he was receiving. "But I gotta admit that does sound like a good idea." Natsu added in bearing a fangy grin. Happy simply nodded in agreement with his pink haired friend.

"Well then, how about we all go on a mission and see how it works out?" The ice mage said. By the word mission, Natsu was happily pumping his fists into the air and Happy doing flips and twirls in the air above him. Lucy smiled as her friends paraded around happily at the thought of being a team. Her heart was filled with the outmost bliss, being a team with a loud obnoxious dragon slayer, a jokester of a cat and a pervy ice mage. It did not sound so bad to her.

_Are you watching mom?_ Lucy stared upwards to the beautiful blue sky that in return, stared right back at her.

* * *

A tall aged man stared into a dark purple orb, with curiosity clear in his green eyes. It was a scrying orb that he conjured to observe the current assignment he was currently given the task of kidnapping. With a smirk, he saw the orb reflect images of a young beautiful blonde laughing with two other figures from her guild and a flying cat. "Lucy Heartfilia." The name casually rolled off his tongue as he said her name. He saw the pink guild mark on her hand, his mind instantly retreating to the back of his mind. _Fairy Tail. _The memories poured backed into his head, the utter disgrace he had felt after the defeat at the hands of their guild master. _Makarov._ Oh they have been fighting on and off ever since for six years, they were nothing more but rivals. The man held respect for the older man, but it infuriated him to no ends to know that their guilds were on par with one another. His guild was supposed to be the best, the strongest, he would not allow a bunch of weak pixie fairies that was Fairy Tail compare to them. He would prove that his guild was the best. An evil smile took over his face.

"What an idiotic bunch you are." The man coldly stated to himself. The guild did not realize who that stellar mage really was and how much she truly was worth. She was the heir to one of the richest families in all of Fiore. _The Heartfilias._ But the family estate was thrown in turmoil at the girl's sudden disappearance recently. And now here he was, observing the same lost "princess" they were looking for. She was in hands reach for the taking, but the only problem was, the guild that she had fled too. Simple words were not going to accomplish this mission, a kidnapping was in the order, blood will be shed and a war was to take place to prove which guild held dominance over the other.

Not only would he capture Lucy, but he would for a fact prove superiority over the guild he despises with such a passion. Of course he would not hurt the girl, the client would not tolerate any type of harm that was inflicted on her. The tall mage smiled as he remembered the client, a dark vibe reeked from that man, power, money and control was in his favor. This man was none other than her father. _Jude Heartfilia._ They briefly had talked, and the mage could understand why a girl like her would want to escape from the clutches of a man who saw only money in his vision. But he felt no pity for her, as this world was not meant for the weak, only the powerful will survive and reign supreme. His tasks were simple, capture her alive and get paid. Casting his hand over the dark orb, it disappeared from existence, it was time to take action. _Fairy Tail shall bleed._

"It's time to set an example of Fairy Tail." The man began to speak.

"Today marks the age of a new era of powerful guilds."

"…." He was greeted by nothing more than silence.

"Make sure you get the message across."

"Kekekeke, yes Master Jose." A sadist laugh arose from the dark corners of the guild. Then movement could be seen, as the figure took a step forward. Its eyes beamed with a fearsome aura, a sickening crimson color. _The color of blood._

"Oh and please tell Juvia to make her way here, I wish to brief her on her next mission." But Jose was a tad bit too late, the figure had disappeared from the dark compounds of the building. The man smirked as he turned around, walking up the stairs of his guild.

"Show them that the Phantom Lord guild knows no bounds…"

"Gajeel."


	4. Enter The Iron Dragon Slayer

_**Heya everyone i'm going to leave the author notes at the end this time, but if you chose not to read it then, enjoy the chapter and feedback is appreciated!**_

* * *

Dusk now hit the town of Magnolia, replacing the once bright star that hovered over the lake town. The city gladly embraced the darkness that the lunar figure in sky offered. It was as if the city of Magnolia was being devoured by the abyss itself, the streets were now bare, empty, devoid of life as the residents retreated back into the safety of their homes. The only life present was the stray animals that roamed throughout the dark alleyways and the occasional fireflies that flew across the grassy meadows, in the outskirts of Magnolia. Light posts flickered on and off, further adding to the dark atmosphere that now presents itself within the city.

A slight foggy mist now graced the air surrounding parts of the city. If one were to be in the middle of it, it would have been incredibly difficult to see through, as it was thick and heavily dense. But the luminous moon shone overhead, casting a beautiful silver light through the fog, allowing a path to be seen on the dark streets of the city. The city was dark, gloomy, and endless like a void, but yet it was a stunningly breathtaking sight to behold. A single raven took flight in the skies overhead. It simply flew in circles majestically, waiting for something, something specific to happen. With each flap of its tiny black wings, small feathers flew down gracefully, as a gentle breeze came by and lifted them away into the horizon.

Within the next few moments a sudden black burr could be seen reflecting off the corners of the birds eyes, it was hopping from building to building. It moved so quickly and with so much intensity, that the simple human eye could not make out what it was, leaving behind the illusion it was just a simple blob of black coursing through the night sky. Eventually it came to a stop, the figure revealed to be a tall muscular man with long spiky jet black hair, he landed gracefully on top of a light post. He seemed to be searching for something, as he eyed his surroundings with mild interest, lifting his head up and with a quick sniff of the air, he was gone once again, deep into the night life of which was Magnolia.

* * *

Damn. This was rather boring, he was left jumping from building to building, searching for the perfect opportunity to strike. When would the fun begin? It made him impatient, he wasn't the one to wait, he drove right into the heart of combat, not once thinking about death, or fear. He was the _source_ of fear, the _one_ in which people cowered in the presence of, he was the manifestation of the word itself. No he was not full of himself, or thought himself to be the "shit", but he would gladly admit he could be an arrogant bastard at times. It wasn't his fault, it was the way he was raised, and by the one whom had raised him. If it was one thing he remembered from his studies it was this. Never show weakness to anybody, once you start to do that, people begin to take advantage of you, start to walk all over you, this was simply how the world worked in his eyes. So he did what he had to do to make it in the world. He grew up to obtain power, to show he was not a weakling, yet he paid the price, he cut off all who tried to get close to him. He paid no heed to emotions nor the attention people tried to offer him, it made the mind weak. So he literally grew a wall of unbreakable iron around his heart. Sealing off the world around him.

And here he was, following orders from his so called guild master. He chuckled to himself, the irony was it not? But no, he was not doing this for that man's intentions, not for his goals, not for his dreams and surely as hell not for his _sake._ Everything that the black haired man did up to this day of age was for himself, no one else but him. There had been only one reason, and one reason only for why he accepted this task, to shed blood on the guild, which his very own guild master loathed so much. It was to taunt a certain person from that exact same guild. A person whose rage will know no bounds once peaked to such heightening levels. It was simple; he wanted to fight this man, to conquer, to dominate, to reign over, to be the strongest slayer in Magnolia.

_Salamander_. The legendary fire dragon slayer from Fairy Tail. This was the man he wished to conquer, to set an example of, but first things first, he must provoke the dragon, and then his wish shall be granted. _Iron and Fire_. Two powerful elements being pit against each other. Whose roar was stronger, whose wings were bigger and whose talons dished out the most damaged? This is what he lived for; he lived to fight, lived for the thrill. Natsu Dragneel will indeed fall before him. And he will be the dragon slayer to stand at the top. He would make sure of it, for Metalicana's sake.

_Metalicana. _The iron dragon had been his foster father, taking him in at such a young age. To be honest, the bastard was the definition of selfish and it still confuses Gajeel to this date to why the dragon had ever taken interest in him when he was a boy. But if it weren't for his teachings, Gajeel would probably be lying in his grave somewhere in the world right about now. The beast had told him to be the strongest and if he wasn't, he was to overthrow whoever was standing at the top of the podium. If he was at the top, there would be no more need to live in fear, to fight, and to run from death itself. And to say, Natsu was in his way from rising to the so called podium. Even though the iron dragon slayer grew a cold heart and did not fear facing death, he still believed in the words of the dragon. To be known as the strongest you must fight for it. Clenching his fists rather tightly, he was itching for a fight.

Stopping for a brief moment from soaring through the air, he landed softly onto a light post, making no sounds whatsoever. Being an iron dragon slayer, he had to deal with the massive amounts of weight and pressure that his body used whenever he used the so called "lost magic's". After many years of training, gallons of sweat and loud cursing he perfected his magic to being able to use it without his body slowing down to cope with the heavy weight of iron that plagued his body. He was nimble as a feather and agile like a fox. Smirking at the thought, he tilted his head upwards to the sky, sniffing the air, taking in the surrounding environment scents. In a matter of seconds the scents of three humans, in which he assumed were huddled close together in proximity, were close to his current position.

_Bingo_. It was time to have some fun. Once again he was soaring through the night skies of Magnolia.

* * *

Finally after a few minutes of searching, he saw three figures walking together, their scents exactly the same as the ones he picked up before. Allowing his body to fall from the sky, he landed a few feet behind the unexpecting mages. Hell they still haven't caught on to him, if it was him in their shoes, he would have already sensed the presence of an unwanted person in the area. But hell not everyone had the heightened senses of a dragon. Then Gajeel's eyes widen in realization, these were no ordinary mages, they were mages from Fairy Tail. A smirk now adorned his facial features, this made it a lot easier for him. He would surely send _him_ a message after this encounter. "Look at what we have here." The dragon slayer announced rather lazily.

In surprise all three of the mages turned around, shocked to see someone out, at this time of day. "Two bastards from Fairy Tail…" His eyes wandered to the last mage, she was rather petite looking. "And a bitch, oh joy." He finished, as he watched the expressions of the two male mages change from shock to pure rage in a matter of seconds. Just the response he was looking for.

"Oh what fuck did you just say to us, who the hell do you think you are?"

"J-Jet, tha-that's the S-class mage from Lord Phantom Guild, the legendary iron dragon slayer!"

The man called Jet's eyes widened in fear at the sudden information from what Gajeel assumed to be his partner. "Gajeel Redfox…what the hell is a Lord Phantom S-class doing all the way out here, this is Fairy Tail territory!" Gajeel's face was rather expressionless as he listened to these men blabber. "You two are boring me with your stories, it's giving me a rather nasty headache." The jet black haired man said his once blank face now changed to a sickening jester like grin. "What do you want from us?" They asked him, waiting for an answer, the seconds rolled by and his eyes flickered dangerously, as his smile widened even further.

"Blood." He said as he cracked his neck in rotation. In a split second he was face to face to Jet, he stared into his eyes that consisted of nothing but fear, this is what he lived for. Smiling, he slammed his large iron fists into Jet's stomach, the man's eyes rolling to the back of his head, as he coughed up blood from the impact. His body became weightless as it slumped to the floor limp, with a small thud, once skin made contact with the street. Another sound reached his ears, he turned to the direction of the girl, who' dropped the books that she was carrying, pages of notes flying here and there. She looked like she had been to hell and back, her body was shaking in fear as she watched her comrade fall before her very eyes. "Levy get out of here quickly, get help!" The other man finally made a move, as he sent his fist flying towards Gajeel, but it was no use, the black haired man simply caught the rather tiny fist compared to his hand. With a bored expression on his face, he put a weight crushing pressure on the man's fist. Hearing a large crack echo in the silent night, he was now satisfied to hear the screams of agony as he broke the man's hand, he decided it was enough and slammed his knee into his gut, efficiently ending the painful screams as the man fell unconscious.

Now all was left was the girl. The Dragon slayer turned around to see her still standing in the same spot, she should have ran when she had the chance. Slowly he made his way towards her.

* * *

With each step he took towards the girl, he took note of the girl called "Levy's" appearance. Her hair was a darkish marine color, it was wavy and wild, her locks reached past both sides of her slender face. A yellow bandanna was adorned in her hair, with a single pink flower on the left end. Like he noticed before, she was a rather petite girl, she looked as if she would break if not handled with complete care. Oh he would enjoy his time with her, every second of it. She also wore a short teal colored summer dress, with a white ribbon that wrapped around her neck, and showcased near her rather plump breast. Taking the final steps, he was now in hand reaching distance of the marine haired girl.

She fell to the ground before her. Reaching her hands behind her, she crawled a few inches back, he could smell the saltiness escaping her eyelids. She was on the verge of crying. "Pl-pleaase, don't hurt me." The girl pleaded with him, as the tears escaped her eyes, but she did not close them, no not once, every second she watched him. This girl was rather strange, why was she not attempting to flee? She had plenty of opportunities while he had ruthlessly beaten her friends, and yet she stayed and watched. What was going on in that head of hers? To say the least, this girl was somewhat interesting.

Then he felt something cold and wet prick his skin. Looking up towards the dark skies, grey clouds loomed overhead, as small droplets of water began to pour from the heavens. It was no storm, but the rain was heavy, and his clothes were getting drenched. Shit, he should hurry this up. Diverting his attention back to the girl, he watched as the tears mixed freely with the rain, she hiccupped every now and then. Finally taking action, he leaned down towards the girl, grabbing her arms rather roughly he lifted her up to her feet. Her eyes seemed to widen in shock at the contact, as her kneels seem to wobble. _Shit_. As he expected her knees gave out on her and she came slamming into his chest. With a growl of frustration his right arm wrapped around her tiny waist, keeping her balanced, it would be a nuisance to have her falling right back down right after picking her up.

The girl gasped at the contact, she lifted her head up from his chest, staring into his eyes. _Hazel_. He growled once again in utter annoyance, clenching his fists, her head snapped back as she flinched, and the fear of being hit present in her features. "What are you going to do with me?" She had asked him, he did not respond, he simply stared at her with cold eyes. He took the time to take in her scent, he could smell the fear, the confusion, and it leaked out of her like no tomorrow. But no, as much as he enjoyed her fear, he was looking for her natural aroma. And then it hit him hard.

The smell of lavenders and vanilla filled his nose. What the hell was this? The scent was fucking amazing, it filled his mind and his very being. He wanted to claim this scent, make it obey him, make it _his_. With the thought plaguing his mind, he decided to give the girl an answer. After all she did deserve one, lasting this long with the Great Iron Dragon Slayer. Leaning in closer to the girls face, one eye closed as the rain softly landed onto her face, the other watching him fully.

"I'm going to break you."

Gajeel did not know what he was doing next, her scent had been absolutely delicious, it was as if it was bait and it was successfully reeling him in. _Well then, let's have a taste shall we? _Running his rather sharp nailed thumb down her cheek, he caressed her cheek bone, down to her puffed up lips, digging his nails down, he saw blood begin to drip down from her lips, she squealed as she saw the small drips of blood fall from her lips. But that had only fueled his hunger. Smirking he pulled his hand away from her face, as he saw his deed, but he wasn't done yet, he was far from it. Leaning his head down once again, he found his head against the girls naked neck, breathing in her scent once last time, with the tip of his tongue he brushed her skin. He got the response he was looking for, a small pained gasp escaped her mouth, as he continued to run his tongue down her neck.

He stopped at a particular spot on her neck, he could feel her heart beat pulsing at a rather fast rate. Continuing where he left off, he pressed his fangs against the pulse point of her neck and to his surprise a small moan escaped the girls lips. Gajeel was indeed surprised, she was supposed to be scared and trembling, yet she was enjoying every second of this. Nipping at the same spot over and over again, the scent of arousal hit his nose. That was it he had to stop now, how the fuck could he lose control of himself at a time like this? Pushing himself away from the girl, he saw that she was panting slightly, her face filled with confusion at the sudden loss of physical contact. Gajeel snarled at her, and once again she flinched and took a step backwards. "Damn bitch and her alluring scent." He said as he placed a clawed hand on her shoulders, her eyes widen, than shortly after shut close as she fell limp into his arms. The dragon slayer had pushed onto her pressure points, rendering her unconscious.

The rain continued to fall as Gajeel stood there, the girl still in his arms, he was dumbfounded at what he had just done. He knew the basic instincts of a dragon were strong, but to this extent? There was only one explanation, and he wouldn't dare give in to it. Glaring daggers at the sky, he threw the girl over his shoulders, as he approached the other two bodies lifting them up. He would carry all three of them to his next destination.

The night was still young and there was many things to be accomplished before the sun arose. His mind wandered back to the girl, Gajeel felt something, felt as if the walls around his heart had slightly crumbled tonight.

_Shit_.

He needed a drink and bad.

* * *

"Ah man Levy you had us out till midnight once again!" Jet was yet again complaining about their midnight adventure to the local library. Levy just giggled as she began to counsel her friend. "Well Jet, you and Droy _willingly_ offered to accompany me, if you don't remember." "Yeah but that's beside the point, how'd you think we'd look if we let a beautiful young girl like yourself walk the streets alone late at night!" Droy joined in the conversation. "Well you do have a point…" She trailed off as she looked into the night sky her partners continuing to talk, it was a rather peaceful night, nothing really had happened at all today. But it was night like these she enjoyed. It calmed her nerves, relaxed her mind and made her feel alive. Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of black, curious she diverted her full attention to the subject of attention, it was a raven. The bird was flying overhead watching them, she smiled as she watched the beautiful bird circle around them a couple more times before flying off in the opposite direction.

The team of Shadow Gear continued on trekking in the night. Words of gossip escaping their mouths as they talked about the latest news, mostly pertaining a certain new stellar spirit mage and her newly formed group with the guilds dragon slayer and ice mage. It wasn't really much of a shock though, as Lucy had spoken to her about asking Natsu and Gray to form a team together. She seemed rather anxious about it, but yet excited at the same time. She had become fast friends with the blonde rather quickly, maybe it was the fact they shared the same passion for reading and writing literature? Levy did not know, but she knew Lucy was special, it was just something that radiated off of her. The marine haired girl wasn't crazy, she was sure others in the guild had noticed this too. Right?

"Look at what we have here." An unfamiliar dark voiced made itself present to her and her partners. In surprise she turned around along with both of her male escorts, to see a tall, rather muscular man standing there. He had a bored look on his face, as if nothing in the world had really interested in him. "Two bastards from Fairy Tail and…" His voice trailed off as his eyes wandered and landed on her, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest as his menacing eyes stared her down. "And a bitch, oh joy." He concluded with a shrug of his shoulders and expressing a small smirk. A wave of hurt hit her as the word he used to describe her rolled of his tongue with no regret.

"Oh what fuck did you just say to us, who the hell do you think you are?" It was Jet who was now screaming out in rage at the mysterious man. "J-Jet, tha-that's the S-class mage from Lord Phantom Guild, the legendary iron dragon slayer!" Droy stuttered out, fear seeping out of every word he said. This man was from Lord Phantom guild, not only that he was an S-Class dragon slayer!? This was not good, Fairy Tail was never on good terms with that guild, and they were nowhere near the home base. "Gajeel Redfox…what the hell is an S-class mage from Lord Phantom's guild doing all the way out here, this is Fairy Tail territory!" Jet continues to question the dragon slayer with anger.

Levy stared at the man before him, his smile had now turned into a sickening grin that grew wider with each second. "You two are boring me with your stories, it's giving me a rather nasty headache." Each word was intended to toy with them and it was working, they were definitely being played with right now. "What do you want from us?" Jet asked one last question to Gajeel. A painful silence filled the night sky, neither side said words, only glances were exchanged. The tension was killing her, the suspense was dreadful, what was this man's motives? Then the dragon's slayers eyes screamed danger as his wicked jester like grin widened.

"Blood."

With a bat of her eye lashes, everything had happened so fast, in one second the S-Class mage had been a mere ten feet away from them, now his fist were buried into Jet's stomach. Her eyes widened as she saw her friend cough up blood after blood, his body went lifeless as it fell to the earth. Something in her had gone hay-wire, she couldn't believe what was happening. The books that she held in her arms were now located a few feet away from her, and hours of research was sent flying around her. This seemed to catch the attention of the dragon slayer as he stared curiously at her with no remorse in his dark eyes. "Levy get out of here quickly, get help!" Droy screamed out at her, as he rushed the dragon slayer. But she couldn't move for the life of her. Her legs were frozen to the ground, her mind unable to register her requests to flee. Terror was all that was on her mind. A sickening crunching noise brought her out of her trance, and soon after an agonizing scream came from Droy's mouth and soon he joined the other male unconscious on the ground. Why was this happening? What had she and her friends done to deserve this?

The black haired man turned from the scene that he had just committed. His eyes focused solely on her, she was all that was left, now it was her turn to suffer the same fate. There was nowhere to run now, and even if she tried, she knew she couldn't out run a dragon whose eyes were now locked onto easy prey. He began to walk slowly towards her.

* * *

The moon's rays shined against the dangerous man with each step he took. His crimson colored eyes reflecting against the light. His sinister blood shot red eyes making him look even more horrifying. Studs were located all over his face, three right above each set of dark eyebrows, another three running down the sides of his nose. Two looped piercings shined on the side of his ear and another stud gleamed on his ear lobe. On the opposite there were no loops present but replaced by more studs. Below his lips there was a stud, further below another stud could be seen close to his chin. More studs could be seen on his large forearms, the excess of piercings all over his body made him look even more dark, and made his overall tall stature stand out.

He wore a rather worn out sleeveless dark collared blue tunic, with matching black trousers, a grey wing-liked ornament made out of feathers was located on his chest. His hair was rather long and spiky, reaching very well over his mid back. If it wasn't for the fact he had harmed her friends and next up in line was her, she would have said he had looked outright beautiful in the light of the moon. She fathomed at the outrageous thought. Focusing her attention back to the now approaching Dragon Slayer, she saw his narrowed eyes, wandering about what she assumed was her. It frightened her as he observed every detail of, seemingly _studying _her, finding out all her weakness's, her strengths, and all the possible ways to _defile_ her. Her body began to tremble as he was now in hand reaching distance, would he strike her down right away? Or toy with her as he seemingly did earlier with his words.

_Escape_. She had to at least try, she would not know if she would make it or not, but it was a worth a shot right? Moving her hands to her back, she was going to turn and run into the night, but her body had different plans for her. She fell onto her rear side, realizing her foolishness, tears stung her eyes, and it was all over now. Reaching back, she dug into the street with a hard grip, pushing her back from the S-Class mage who just eyed her down. "Pl-pleaase, don't hurt me." These very words escape her mouth, not once in Levy's life she had ever found herself pleading, _begging_ for her very own life. She felt weak, crushed and hopeless. But she would not close her eyes, she will watch her fate being given to her by the hands of this man. He would not get the sight of day of seeing her total and utterly lost in hopelessness.

Suddenly wet droplets of water began to pelt her forehead. Taking notice as he stared upwards to the sky, the once graceful moon was now covered by the grey rain clouds. Pellets of water slowly came crashing down over Magnolia. Her hair was now soaked with water, her bangs fully covering her forehead, close to her eyelids. Hopefully he would not see the tears now running down her face, as the rain began to wash her tears away. She watched as Gajeel seemed to shrug off the weather, and reverted his eyes back onto her. Leaning down he roughly grabbed her forearms, not really caring for her well-being, she could already feel the area of skin bruising, as he pulled her up to him. _Not good. _She was not capable of standing up by herself yet, not with the state which she was in, she needed support. Then it happened, her knees buckled and she felt her body come crashing down the street below them. But the hard impact did not come. She instead was met with a warm, rock hard chest.

Levy gasped as he felt his strong arm encircle around her waist, supporting her weight against him. The rune scholar lifted her head up to look at his face, regretting every second of it. _Crimson_. His eyes stared back at her, she couldn't tell, but it was as if he was questioning himself about something. But what could possibly be on his mind at a time like this? "What are you going to do with me?" She asked without thinking. _Stupid_. What else was he going to do with her, but render her unconscious and do whatever he pleased with her afterwards. No reply. He had simply ignored her question. Was he smelling her…indeed he was in fact sniffing the person in front of him, who happened to be her. She flinched as droplets of water hit her eye, closing it, she continued to watch him out of the other as he finally began to speak.

"I'm going to break you."

Her heart stopped at his sudden words. _He's going to break me._ That was her fate, to be broken and discarded like a ragdoll. She did not want this, but she stood there and watched as his face leaned closer to hers, his eyes filled with desire. _Desire for what?_ Once again she felt herself flinch slightly as she felt a warm sensation on her cheek. Gajeel was touching her. He ran a clawed finger slowly down her cheekbone. It was as if he was caressing her. It sent cold chills up and down her spine. Levy couldn't make out if that was good or bad, but it seemed like he was enjoying every second of his little game with her. His finger finally stopped at its destination, her lips. The dark haired man pressed down rather roughly with the tip of his fingers. Levy's eyes widened at the sudden sensation she started to feel develop deep within her inner core. Her body wanted to respond to his touch, to squeal things she's never imagined of hearing anytime soon. _No._ She could not give in to this man, she could not further show more weakness. She had to be strong, strong for the sake of her guild.

Soon she tasted a bittersweet liquid on her lips. _Blood._ He had drawn blood from the scholar! With a gasp she gave in to her body, as she inhaled a sharp breathe, the wind air flowed into her body, slightly calming her from the current situation. Gajeel watched her, with a satisfied smile plastered all over his features. The dark blood slowly dripped from her lips, falling down to the earth below. She was sure her lips were bruising now and in the next few moments, Levy felt things she never had felt before as woman, the cause being from this man she was supposed to be calling her enemy. He dipped his head back down, this time to the base of her neck. She felt something moist come in contact with her skin and her eyes widened as she realized what it was. Jolts shook her body rather harshly, he ran his tongue down up and down her neck, repeatedly. Why was she feeling like this, this was not right, she was supposed to be mortified by this man, but yet she was left _wanting_, needing more of his touch. A moan escaped her mouth as she felt his sharp canine teeth pressed against her skin. The S-Class mage was teasing _her_ and she was _enjoying_ every second of it.

Not caring for the world anymore, or the current situation she was in right now, she allowed the waves of pleasure to hit her body, with each nip he took at her neck, she felt herself grow more dizzy, the pleasure intertwining with the fear that laid dormant in her stomach. It felt so right, but felt so wrong. Finally the waves of pleasure ceased, as the man pulled away from her, a look of total confusion was written all over his face, like he did not mean to go this far, like something else in him took control. Whatever it was, she was left panting like some kind of dog in heat. How could this happen?

With a menacing snarl and fangs bared at her, the fear had hit her at full force once again. She took a step backwards at his eyes glared daggers at her. "Damn bitch and her alluring scent." Gajeel muttered to himself, but she had heard him. _Her scent_. Was that the reason why he had acted the way he did? But the girl could not further ponder about it, as he was now standing in front of her. _Wha..so fast._ And the next thing she knew, she felt herself falling into the world of darkness. The last thing she caught sight of was his retreating hands, as he caught her once again in his arms.

* * *

_**Oh, wasn't that lovely? Mmm I love me some Gajeel x Levy. Haha**_

_**I enjoyed writing this chapter, I think I presented Gajeel pretty well among some other things.**_

_**And hopefully people won't chase me down with pitchforks for this haha, anyways I know for a fact some of my readers enjoyed this...I think**_

_**Haha, well anyways sorry for the lack of NaLu, hope everyone enjoyed reading chapter 4! **_


	5. Enter The Clash Of The Dragon Slayer's

_**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 5! This is by far the longest chapter in the story at about 11k words! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Oh yeah I start my first day as a senior in high school tomorrow so wish me luck :P!**_

* * *

Lucy walked down the streets of the marketplace. In her hand she held a single plastic bag filled with cosmetics and other goods for her apartment, proof she had been purchasing necessities for her household. The blonde began to hum a sweet tune in her throat. Her mother used to the hum the same exact tune when she was just a child, it had always calmed her down and brightened up her mood when wasn't feeling her very best. Now at the age of eighteen she always found herself humming the sweet sensation she heard as a child. Be it running errands, chores, writing her novel or simply just plain bored, it kept her sane in a way. Lucy smiled as memories of her mother overtook her mind as she hummed the soothing melody to the infant blonde, her cries ceasing and a joyous smile taking over her baby like features.

To say the spirit mage was in an ecstatic mood would be a total understatement. She was way beyond that, her total mind was lost in euphoria. After all, it wasn't every day that you go on your very first mission with a Fire Dragon Slayer and with his two best friends, a half naked ice mage and a flying feline. Many would be very envious to take the place of the celestial mage, heck she wouldn't be surprised if someone would go as far as killing her and disguising themselves as her to go on a mission with the notorious mages from Fairy Tail. Not only that, she was even able to nag a new celestial key! Her smile further widened as she looked down to the jingling keychain at her waist, a glimpse of the new golden king dangling from the chain was the cause of her smile. Yup, her newly acquired spirit had been one of the legendary zodiac keys. _Virgo_. "The Maiden" zodiac was now in her possession, a new friend for the mage to create new bonds, memories and connections with, another soul to understand, to love, to cherish and to protect with her life. This is what a stellar mage such as herself was meant to do. And Lucy loved every aspect of being a stellar spirit mage.

Recalling the night before, their mission was simple, they were to infiltrate Duke EverLues mansion and steal the book called "DayBreak". Both Natsu and Lucy had found the man to be very repulsive, he was short, pudgy, not on the good looking side and of course a rather corrupt politician. Duke had used his powers to blackmail the author of Daybreak to create the piece of work, the said author was one of Lucy's favorite writers of literature, so of course she had accepted this mission in a heartbeat, dragging along her guild mates. The man also had the nerve to call Lucy an ugly hag! Oh that man was very delusional, very delusional indeed. After a final confrontation in the sewers below the mansion, the man had summoned the celestial spirit Virgo and ordered the pink haired maiden to strike down his foes. Lucy recalled the rather amusing memory very briefly.

"_Virgo, quickly dispose of these imbeciles, they are trying to ruin me!" The politician yelled out as he pointed at the blonde and her companions. A rather large obese pink pig tailed maiden had appeared from the now vanishing smoke cloud that appeared before them and was now charging at the Fairy Tail mages, with the full intentions of crushing them under her large arms. _

"_What the FUCK IS THAT!?" Natsu had cried out as he and Gray dodged the large fists that slammed down to the spot they once stood at seconds before. "It looks like a damn gorilla, dressed up as a maid!" Gray snorted at Natsu's remark, but hey, the Dragon slayer had a point, she did in fact looked rather depressing to say at least. "Oi, Natsu I think you angered the fat bastard over there." Natsu simply stared at the fat man now jumping up and down in rage at his earlier remark concerning "the gorilla women" whom the evil politician believed to hold the greatest beauty in all the land of Fiore. Dodging yet again another punch aimed to his forehead, Natsu was getting rather bored at the failed attempts of striking him down. "Eh, I'm tired of playing around, it's time to teach you to not to play with fire, Gorilla girl." Natsu said with a smirk as flames began to intertwine around his fists. "Gray get her to stop moving would ya'll!" With a nod, the ice mage slammed his hands together, ice began to form around the maiden's feet, and soon both of her legs were encased in ice. "Go for it smokey!"_

_With a fang bearing grin, Natsu ran at full speed to the overgrown woman who was now struggling to break free from the ice. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" The pink haired man screamed as his flames now had spread out past his forearms to his shoulders, his fists colliding with Virgo's face, sending her flying towards Duke EverLue, landing a mere centimeters from his feet. Stars replaced the now defeated spirits eyes as she vanished into the realm of spirits. "Virgo, my sweetheart! How dare you do that to her!" Duke screamed in fury at Natsu and Gray, surely he would explode from anger, hopefully, that would make things much easier for them. _

"_Oi old man now it's your turn." Natsu said, now turning to look at the now running figure in the distance. The pink haired man eyes nearly bulged out of his eyelids, when did everyone in the world get so damn fast? "Oh no you don't!" This time it was Lucy's voice, in Natsu's amazement she had caught the fleeing politician with a quick lash of her heart shaped whip, and the fat man had come crashing down to the concrete sidewalk. "Good work Lucy you caught him!" Lucy turned around with her tongue sticking out and holding out the piece sign towards her friends. Looking down at the man now trying to break free from the hold of the whip, Lucy sighed as she reached down grabbing the book that had caused all this trouble. It was time to notify the authorities and clean up the mess here._

_After the council authorities had taken Duke to the capital to receive judicial hearings, the fire mage, his loyal cat and the pervert were now hurdled around the blonde, their focus of attention now on the small glistening object now in her hands. "Well are you going to summon her, Lucy?" The cat questioned, receiving a quick nod from the blonde, they all watched as they saw the familiar scene unfold before them. "Open the gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" The spirit mage called out for the celestial spirit, the dense fog appearing once again before the Fairy Tail mages. "Man I hate this damn fog." Natsu said with a sneeze as he waved his hands faintly around, trying to disperse the fog away from his sensitive nose. "I agree." Gray commented as he waved his own hands around the dense clouds._

_As the fog cleared up, their eyes were met with a rather strange outcome, they were surely not expecting this. In place of the rather large, brutish woman, was a smaller petite girl, her now pink hair fell loosely down to her neck a set of broken metal chains hanged from her wrists, and she was bowing before the celestial mage. "My princess." The spirit began to speak in a soft yet strong voice to which they concluded the "princess" Virgo referred to was Lucy. "I shall be able to serve under you from the times of Monday through Sunday." Lucy agreed with the spirit and smiled. "But please, don't call me princess, I'm far from it." Even though it had a nice little ring to it, the blonde would rather have all her spirits call her by her first name. It seemed to help develop the bond between mage and spirit if they started off friendly._

"_Where the hell did that gorilla of a woman go?!" Natsu bursted out, finally realizing the now changed appearance of the spirit that now stood before them. "I figured princess would appreciate a more ladylike appearance." Virgo answered the now bewildered fire mage before him. Natsu simply looked at the pink haired girl who was now standing behind the so called "Princess" with a questioning look on his face. "Uhm, Virgo why are you hiding behind me, are you scared of Natsu?" Lucy asked the spirit gently, she wouldn't be surprised if she was indeed frightened of the dragon slayer, he did in fact hit her rather harshly earlier. "No, he's looking at me as if he wants to punish me, for my naughty behavior earlier." The pink haired maid said with her eyes looking down at the floor, her lips puffed up and her finger running along the bottom of her lips. Lucy seemed to choke on her saliva, Happy just flew in the air with a cat like grin plastered on his face like always, and Gray well he was amused at the display of behavior from the spirit._

"_What the hell, she's a freak just like ice princess here!"_

"_Hey, who the fuck are you calling ice princess, you bastard!"_

"_Would punishing myself make you two feel better?"_

"_See, what I mean! She's fucking perfect for him."_

"_Oi, Hey!"_

Lucy laughed to herself as she recalled the events from last night. The mission itself was fun and very rewarding, she was very excited for the next mission she would embark on with the newly formed team. Who knows what adventures would await them, the struggles, the hardships and growth they would all experience together as partners, as friends, and as a team. Turning the corner of the street, Lucy decided to take a longer route back to her apartment, feeling the need to let her mind wander a bit more.

Suddenly Lucy felt something cold and wet hit her forehead. With widen eyes she looked up at the sky to now see small drops of water falling freely from the sky above. _Rain._ How could it be raining during this time of day? Just mere seconds ago the sun was out shining perfectly and there were no traces of clouds in the sky. She could have sworn she heard on the radio this morning that it would be perfectly good weather today. Yet, there was rain now falling before her. With a shrug she concluded that the forecast had simply been wrong, and she began to hurry her pace back to the apartment. She did not want to get drenched, it would be a pain to dry her hair once she returned to the small living quarters. Caught in her thoughts, she felt herself bump into something and the next thing she knew, the celestial mage was now falling backwards.

With a small thud, the blonde landed on her backside, her groceries scattering about around her. Slowly sitting upwards, she rubbed the back of her head, feeling a tingling sensation on the area of her scalp, great surely now her hair was going to be a mess once she returned home and not only that but she would be sporting a bump too. _Great_. Realizing she had bumped into someone she quickly cast her eyes upwards with a look of apology in her eyes. Lucy's eyes were met with pale skin. The person before was offering her a hand, muttering a quick thanks, she took the hand and brought herself back onto her feet with the help of the person before her.

She took in the appearance of the girl before her; a Russian Cossack hat laid on top of her head, her dark blue haired was curled at the base, a emotionless smile embraced her features as she stared at the celestial mage with dark blue eyes, the girl also adorned a navy blue coat with a fur shawl attached around the neck. _This girl screams blue. _"Juvia apologizes for bumping into you, Juvia was lost in the beauty of the rain." The girl began to speak to her in third person. _Strange_. Lucy shook it off, as she smiled and began to talk. "Oh everything is fine, it's partially my fault too, I was kind of lost in my own thoughts." The girl called Juvia nodded, she closed the umbrella she was holding as she kneeled down next to the blonde, picking up the groceries which Lucy had dropped from the collision. Standing back up the blue haired women handed the bag back to Lucy, checking that all the contents were in place, Lucy smiled brightly at the woman.

"Thanks for helping me Juvia, I really appreciate it!" Juvia simply stared at her, her face still emotionless as she simply nodded towards her. "Opps, I'm so sorry, I should introduce myself, the name is Lucy!" As soon as the blonde's words had left her mouth, for the first time the girl's expressionless features changed. Her eyes now became more sharp and dark. The umbrella she once held tightly now fell to the street as she stared into the girls chocolate orbs.

"Juvia…?" Lucy questioned feeling rather uncomfortable at the sudden change of atmosphere. "Lucy, as in the Lucy Heartfilia?" Juvia simply responded. Lucy's eyes widened at the fact she never had said her last name to the person before her and for some strange reason she had nervously nodded her head to the person she barely just met moments ago. Juvia blinked once, then twice and shook her head in what seemed to be annoyance.

"My name is Juvia Lockser, I am known as the "Rain Women", an S-Class mage from the Lord Phantom guild."

Lucy did not understand why this woman before her was now fully introducing herself to her. But it felt strange, Lucy felt endangered, something in the pits of her stomach told her to run. "Juvia's assignment from master Jose is as follow."

"You must kidnap the girl called "Lucy Heartfilia." By now Lucy's eyes were far from surprised, she was scared and panicking. Quickly she made a reach for her keys, as soon as she grabbed the silver loop on her belt, the keychain fell to the floor along with her groceries. She was trapped in what to be a sphere of water. Juvia looked onwards as the blonde tried her best of breaking free to no prevail. "Sumbu…" Lucy tried yelling for help but made the mistake of opening her mouth, the water poured into her mouth and she soon found herself struggling to breathe properly. Would she drown and never see the light of day again?

"Juvia is not going to kill you, it is what not master wishes."

"You shall simply fall asleep, and Juvia will deliver you to master." After hearing her words, Lucy began to panic even more, the water intake increasing as she struggled even further. Grasping her neck for air, she felt her body grow weak, and darkness begin to devour her eye sight. With one last blink she fell unconscious in the sphere of water, as she allowed her body to shut down its functions.

* * *

_A lone figure stood on top of the grassy hill. A powerful shadowy dark aura covered its appearance. Dark red eyes glowed behind the dark mask which it hid behind, an evil sadistic smile was visible as rows of vicious sharp fang like teeth bit into its lips. A long appendage whipped back and forth viscously behind it in excitement. It's dark red eyes observed in amusement at the flames which spread throughout the village at the bottom of the hill. With a flick of its wrist, a piercing red light radiated off its hand, and an inhumane laugh emerged from its throat._

* * *

Natsu bolted upwards from his small bed, beads of sweat were visible as they ran down the sides of his cheeks, heaving rather loudly, the dragon slayer brought his hands towards his face. They were shaking, rather his whole tire body was shaking rather profoundly, it felt like Plue had taken over his body. Images of the dream recollected in his head, the dark figure which loamed over the destruction of a village. This was not the first time he had this dream, in fact it was not a dream at all, it was a memory, a memory in which he had tried to bottle up and seal in the most inner depths of his mind. But it always broke out of the cell in which Natsu locked it in. That _creature_, it was the cause of all the pain he felt in the world, all of the suffering, the torment in which he felt in his heart. It had destroyed his life as he knows it and it continued to devour his very being to this date.

That monster was the source of everything, the reason why he could not sleep properly for the past few years, the reason why he found himself lost in his own little world on a daily basis, the reason why he panicked and was the source of all his anxiety in life. Its sadist smile always made its way into Natsu's mind, constantly reminding him of what it took away from him. The way it looked as if it held no fear to anything to cross its path and held no remorse for the life around it. That _thing_ was the bringer of chaos and destruction.

It had brought the very thing Natsu feared in the world to him. _Chaos._ And it tormented Natsu beyond comprehension. Ripping through his mind and soul like it was nothing, leaving nothing but pieces for him to pick up and try to repair what could not be repaired. What was he to do? He could not change the past, he could have not stopped that monster. And he surely as hell not could have kept his promise…

_Silver, her once mid length silver hair was now tainted. Tainted. Defiled. Ruined. It could not be cleansed, the color of red had tainted silver._

"Fucking hell." Natsu cursed, as the image made a presence in his now deteriorating mind. How much more can he last, live with himself? To continue on walking with a fake smile, trying to walk forwards but always being dragged backed ten times fold with each step he took. What could he truly do? Where was the answer he was looking for, and could he ever forgive himself for the past? Natsu knew it wasn't healthy to linger on the past, his friends always reminded him this, but how could he not, it constantly plagued his mind, and it was a part of him. It was nothing he could ever forget, after all it was all _his_ fault.

"NATSU!" The cry brought the pinked haired man out of his thoughts. Looking up he saw his blue colored friend making his way towards him at a very high speed. Remembering what had happened last time, he embraced himself for impact. But it never came, slowly reopening his eyes, he stared at the cat flying before him, his eyes were watery and red. He had been crying recently.

"Happy, what's the matter?" Natsu asked as he watched the cat's fists clench before him. There was something indeed wrong, Happy never came barging into his house looking like a mess. "Natsu, the-they finally did it." Natsu's eyes rose, what the hell was Happy talking about? "The Shadow Lord's Guild attacked the guild Natsu!"

In that split moment all the pain and memories which clouded the man's mind disappeared, like it was never there to begin with, instead anger filled the absence in his mind. Happy saw the man's facial features turn dark, as rage took over his face. For the first time since Happy knew Natsu in the six years of existence, he felt terrified of his beloved friend.

"Take me."

"...?"

"Take me." Once again he said much harsher than the last time, with wide eyes Happy nodded, flying out the door, the Dragon Slayer following right after.

* * *

Arriving at the park located near the guild, Natsu saw that it was rather crowded inside of the park. People from all over Magnolia were gathered around, all looking at the same thing. Whispers, gasps and cries could be heard within the groups of people huddled tightly together. Natsu along with Happy began to make their way through the crowd, not really noticing the looks they were receiving or the curses, there was so much more on his mind for him to take notice of their pestering. What had happened last night? He had gone on a mission with Lucy and Gray, and it was rather successful, did The Phantom Lord Guild really attack while they were away? Happy wouldn't tell him who was attacked or the specific details, he only had told him to keep following, and that he had to see it for himself. _See what exactly?_

Finally pushing the last person out of his way, he saw that most of his guild was in front of the scene which caught the attention of Magnolia. Natsu saw Gray standing right next Erza whose arms were crossed, her eyes closed and he could see a pain frustrated expression on her face. Gray turned his head to Natsu, their eyes met and with a shake of his head, Gray pointed in front of him. Following his finger to see what he was pointing at, Natsu's eyes met a scene that broke a piece of him. Hanging from the tree in a crucified position, were three familiar faces from the guild. Natsu's body stiffened, he couldn't move a muscle, his mind grew blank he did not know what to make of what he saw. Was this some kind of game? Some short of message their nemesis guild was trying to preach to them?

"What the fuck is this…?" Natsu softly whispered to himself as he took in the horrible image before him. People from the guild turned to face him, their eyes all holding the same stories, the same pained looks, the same looks of rage and the same looks of wishing they could have done something to prevent this. _Droy. Jet. Levy_. The team of Shadow Gear were the members whom took the damage of the attack. Eyeing their bodies, he saw the bruising, cuts, and dried blood marks all over each. Droy's wrist seemed to be twisted in a way it shouldn't have been, Jet's body looked completely broken, as if all the bones in his abdominal region were snapped in half. Finally his eye's landed on the blue haired girl's. Her lips were swollen, a purple mark present on the lower corner of her lips, the scent of dried blood still lingering off of her, trailing his eyes downwards, he saw that a large section of her summer dress was ripped off the mid-section. Her naked pale flesh revealed for the world to see, but it did not end there, above her naval, a message was there for specifically the members of Fairy Tail to see.

The dark black Insignia of The Shadow Lord guilds was imprinted onto her skin with a marker. It was in fact a message to the guild, a message which they all very well knew they could not ignore. As a guild, they knew what this meant, and they knew what they had to do. To exact revenge for their comrades, to keep their pride as a guild intact, and to bring a undeniable war to the messengers. "When I find out who did this to you guys, I will make sure they fucking burn to the ground." Natsu hissed out in anger, as he stared at the innocent bodies hanging from the trees. He would have gladly taken their places, they from all the people in the guild did not deserve this. The usual happy-going bookworm and the two men who always escorted her around and would gladly protect her with their lives deserved so much more than this. Natsu will surely fight, fight for their sake, he would not sit idly by and allow his Nakama to be one by one hurt, he would not allow it, and he will not stand for it.

"Jose…" Everyone quickly turned to the voice of their guild master. The short old man was now standing before the tree, eyeing the tree which the mages were hanging from. How could Jose do this? Yes, they were not on good terms, but to go to such an extent? The once respect he held for the man diminished, he could not stand idly by and watch his beloved children fall one by one. "They delivered a message, we received it at full force." Makarov began to speak to his guild, everyone's attention now focused solely on him.

"Blood has been shed, not just ordinary blood, but blood from my children, as a father I shall not stand for this atrocity." Each word said, every member of the guild could feel the emotion radiating off him, the emotions reaching their very souls. "They want war…we shall give them war, Fairy Tail!" The old man roared with intense anger as his powerful magic could be felt rising to heightening levels of unbelievable magnitudes. Shortly afterwards the members of Fairy Tail yelled out with cries of their own, agreeing with their guild master. They will gladly return with a message of their own, an unforgettable message.

"Erza."

"Yes master Makarov?" Titania answered a small smile now on her features from the short speech that the old man had given. She was glad that she would be able to draw her sword and defend the honor of her guild. "I want you to gather all the mages within the guild whom are willing to participate in the attack of Shadow Lord's Guild." Erza simply nodded to the master wishes. "And immediately get Mirajane to look over the wounds of team Shadow Gear." Nodding once again, the scarlet hair woman went off to look for the barmaid and organize the impending attack on the said guild.

Walking back towards the guild home, Makarov caught a glimpse of Natsu, the pink haired boy eyes were filled with anger, desire for revenge and somewhere in his eyes, he saw the pain which the boy has bottled up for years reemerge and take control over his eyes. His eyes closed shut for a moment, before opening once again, a new look of something he wished to fight for present in his eyes, and the next second he was gone, sprinting out of the park at full speed. _My son, keep your head up, look brightly into the future ahead of you and live for that purpose._

* * *

A large crash echoed out throughout the building as the two large doors of the guild came crashing down. "Who the fuck was the one who hurt my Nakama?" Everyone in the guild turned with wide eyes as they saw a single figure standing on top of the now broken down doors of their guild. Who would dare destroy the property of the Shadow Lord's Guild? "Hey look it's a pathetic pixie from Fairy Tail." One of the lower class mages said as he eyed the red insignia on the forearm of the muscular man whom broke down the doors. "Ahaha, looks like he's butt hurt from Gajeel's doing, ain't he fella's?" Another man from the guild spoke, shortly after the whole guild around began to erupt into laughter. "So, it was Gajeel?" The pink haired man questioned. He had surely heard of the name, Gajeel was one of the top mages in the Lord Phantom Guild, being an S-Class mage and a dragon slayer himself.

He was said to be ruthless and showed no sign of remorse, enemy and friend alike. Whoever got in his way, were crushed under his power. And this same cold-hearted bastard was the one to hurt his friends? He was surely going to be fucking ashes after Natsu was done with him. "Bring him out now." Oh, it wasn't a statement, Natsu demanded it, striking fear into the lower class mages eyes, but the larger and more experienced mages took no heed to his request. Instead Natsu was greeted with more laughs and snorts. A bottle flew by his head as someone began to speak again. "Look at this bastard barging into our quarters and demanding us and shit, boys I think it's time we properly greet this fucker." Soon forth the mages began to run towards the dragon slayer. Shaking his head, Natsu began to retaliate, breathing in a large intake of air, he felt the warm sensation in the pits of his stomach as it made its way upwards to his mouth, covering his mouth with both his knuckles placed on top of one another, he slightly opened it as he roared. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" The scorching hot flames spewed from his mouth, knocking back a large amount of the mages which were running towards him.

"Ah, those pests were starting to becoming nuisances, thank you for taking care of them, Natsu." A sarcastic voice came from above, followed by clapping. Narrowing his eyes, Natsu looked above him to see a man with jet black hair standing on top of one of the many wooden structures that held the guild's roof in place. Natsu growled in annoyance at the man's lack of concern for his now injured guild mates. "Pests? Nuisances? How can you say that about your Nakama!" Natsu's patience beginning to become thinner by the minute as he yelled at the man above him.

"Kekeke." The man threw his head back as he began to laugh. "Nakama, them?" Shaking his head, he jumped off the wooden structure landing on the floor below, the floorboard cracking and expanding as his feet touched the ground. He looked at Natsu with piercing red eyes, a wicked grin registered on his face. "Sorry, but I don't associate myself with weak garbage like them, like I said they are just pests to me." The man said coldly as he cracked his neck. "Oh Gajeel made himself present, that dragon slayer is in for it now!"

Natsu's eyes became serious as he heard a member of the opposing guild exclaim. So the man standing before him is Gajeel? The very Gajeel that had hurt Levy, Droy and Jet? This would be the man that would pay dearly for hurting his Nakama. "Gajeel!" Natsu roared as he came charging at the black haired man. Flame fists met metal, sparks flew off the iron material with each punch Gajeel parried. "Is this all the Fire Dragon Slayer has, I was expecting so much more from you, but apparently your just a garbage excuse for a slayer." Gajeel taunted as he slammed his fists into Natsu's gut, seeing the man's eyes widen in pain, he placed a hand over his iron clad arm, a smirk on his face. "So weak, did you expect trash like yourself to be able to wage war against us?" The man said harshly, his arm which was buried in Natsu's stomach started to expand outwards, in a blink of an eye the metal arm slammed the Fire Dragon Slayer into the wall on the opposite of the guild.

"Pathetic, just plain fucking pathetic, to think you were standing at the top of the podium." Gajeel spat at the ground before him before he continued. "I had been the one to hurt your precious so called Nakama, I had been one to deliver the message, I had been the one to provoke the dragon of Fairy Tail, and I did all this so I can crush your very _existence_." The Iron Dragon Slayer made his way to the now staggering figure that was now trying to stand up. "Tell me Dragneel, how does it feel to stand alone in the world?"

Natsu now on his feet, held rib cage in page, coughing up some blood, he wiped his lips as he let out a small chuckle. "Alone you say?" He lifted his head up to stare into the man's eyes. "I never was alone bastard." After his words escaped his mouth, yells, screams and magic being casted could be heard echoing off the walls of the guild. Turning around Gajeel saw as members of Fairy Tail came pouring in, but he did not falter, he simply continued to smile, oh this shall be fun. Fun indeed.

"Natsu!" The voices of Erza, Gray, Elfman and among other members of the guild called out to him. Smiling Natsu straightened out his posture as he saw his guild mates running towards him. "Don't' worry about me, this bastard is mine, focus on the small fries." With nods, the other mages dispersed heading off into battle. "How interesting, well then Salamander, let's see whose roar is stronger." Both Dragon Slayers dashed at one another at full speed, the intent to destroy present in their eyes.

* * *

A man fell to his knees as he clutched his right arm in pain. He got struck by a spiritual arrow, from an archery type of magic. Oh he would be laughing if it wasn't the fact for the arrow lodged into his arm. The blood flowed freely down his arm, hell he wondered what kind of pain the Phantom Lord scum were in with his gun type magic. The black spiky haired man winced as he pulled the arrow out of his arm, cursing loudly, he gasped as he pressed pressure on the open wound. Shit, he was getting dizzy. "Well, well, looks like I'll finish you off right here." Eyes widened he stared up at the mage before him, a familiar green bow was now in his face. Closing his eyes, accepting his fate, he would die here fighting for his guild. _Bisca…_

"ALZACK, don't you dare die on me now!" A women's voice came present, and a loud bang went off as a ringing sensation filled his ears. Opening his eyes once again he saw as the man before him fell to the floor, turning around to see the one who called out his name. A worried expression adorned her pretty face, she wore red lipstick and her long green hair went down to her back. She wore a cowboy hat along with tan westernized clothing, matching his outfit. "Bisca." He whispered with a smile, she had saved him. Throwing the large wooden rifle over her shoulders, she ran to the man's side, kneeling down she inspected his wound. "Are you alright?" She asked very concerned with the injured man before her. "Yeah, sting's like a bitch though." With a laugh she helped him up to his feet. "Well you have another arm to use your gun magic, we still have a war to win."

The man nodded as he looked around, he saw members of Fairy Tail clash against the mages of Phantom Lord Guild. Erza fully clad in her heavens wheel ex-quip armor, she flew through the air with her diamond like wings, cutting down all foes foolish enough to get in her way, further looking around he saw as the ice mage helped Elfman deliver finishing blows to the enemy. But what truly caught the attention of the gun mage was the fight between the two dragons.

Sure enough the two dragons were exchanging blow after blow, everything seemed like a blur as he watched them, their movements were fast and precise. Each clash of fiery fist and hard metal made a ringing hiss sound, and sparks flew around them. Neither of them were slowing down nor were willing to admit defeat. The powers of a dragon were fierce, as they collided once more, the foundations of the building shook, and the wooden floorboards creaked as waves of power shock waved throughout the area.

"Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Both of the Dragon's howled as they breathed their respectful elements. The two powerful hurricanes of raw energy collided with one another. Both fire and iron were on equal terms, neither hurricane dying down, the two slayers were back at exchanging their talons. Which Dragon would come out on top? Which Dragon will soar in the skies after this fight and which Dragons wings were going to break in the after match? Hopefully Fairy Tail's Dragon will reign supreme.

"Alzack, stop fooling around and get your ass in the game!" Bisca screamed after him as she sniped the inclosing Phantom Lord members surrounding him. Nodding, he turned his attention away from the roars of the dragons as he pulled out his pistols.

* * *

Makarov took a step onto the battlefield. He took note of the way his children fought for the sake of their Nakama, their chivalry knew no bounds and the passion they held in their hearts was what made them strong. That's what made them members of Fairy Tail. Making his way towards the stairs, he knew he would find Jose at the top, that's where things will come to an end. There a clash of two of the ten wizard saints will occur, the title only given to the ten strongest mages in all of Fiore. With each step Makarov took the floor below him crumbled, his intensifying power growing with each second, as the thoughts of his injured children filled his mind. Electrical shocks of power surrounded his being, pushing away all Phantom Lord Members who dared stray into his path. He was a being forced to be reckoned with once he caught whiff of his loved ones being injured.

Sending large amounts of magical pressure into his arm, it grew into an inhuman giant like sized, slamming his powerful arms into a group of grunts making his way towards him. Kids these days, they needed a lesson to learn. Reaching the flight of stairs, he took the steps up, nodding his head towards all the members of Fairy Tail currently fighting. _Keep Strong everyone._

Finally reaching the guild masters room, Makarov pointed a finger at the door, the magical intensity causing it burst open, a shockwave of power was sent coursing throughout the room as Makarov took a step into it, pages of papers and books flew all around the room, as he saw at the end of the room behind the desk was Jose. Clad in an expensive purple wizard outfit. His silver saint wizard badged standing out from all the purple. To his right a female mage with blue hair stood beside him and..

_Blonde._ Makarov eyes widened as he saw the celestial wizard laying there unconscious. _Those sneaky bastards._ When had they kidnapped Lucy? "Well, well, well, why isn't it my old friend Makarov?" Jose said with a small smile. "Jose, do you think I would consider you a friend with all that you have done? This is unacceptable." The wizard saint simply laughed at his words. "Unacceptable? No, this is perfectly _acceptable_, with this, we will truly discover which guild deserves the title as number one, and only one may remain standing, Master Makarov." Makarov simply stared at Jose, he always knew Jose craved for his guild to be at the very top. And this is what it has come to, a bloody war between two powerful guilds. Looking back down at the girl laying on the floor, but why was she here, a fairly new member of the guild, what importance did she have for Jose?

"Why is Lucy in your possession?"

"Oh foolish Makarov, do you not know who this girl is? The true heir to the infamous Heartfilia family, do you know how important she is, and how much this girl is worth?" Makarov continued to listen to Jose's reasoning. "Makarov you must know this world is run by power, by money, and by status. Greed is such a powerful sin."

"It is true that this world may be in the hands of the corrupt, but by following the path of sin, your only furthering tainting this already tainted world, now I may ask, what are you planning to do with my child, Jose?"

Narrowing his eyes, the tall mage took a few steps towards Makarov, kneeling down he ran his hand over the sleeping girl's cheek. "Plain and simple, returning her to the life she escaped from, the life which she fears to live and the life of a soulless doll." "With this I will be guaranteed to the riches of the Heartfilia name and the start of a new era of power will arise, Makarov surely you knew of this girl's past, why did you not make anything of it?"

"I did know who Lucy Heartfilia was, her name is known all across the lands, but I do not care for power, nor the riches, I live for future of my guild, the future of my family, they are my life, my children are what make me strong." Makarov watched as Jose simply stood back up from the floor and looked at him with dark eyes. "If my children do not want to share their past then so be it, they do not have to, they are free to be whomever they wish be in Fairy Tail! This girl, I've seen her eyes, her eyes filled with pain, a life of suffering, a life of regret, a life of dreaming and I shall not allow you to bring her back to the painful past, she belongs with her future, Fairy Tail!"

The smile ceased on the guild Master of Lord Phantom, a new look of irritation and utter disgust with Makarov replaced his features. "Then so be it." The wizard saint said his eyes undergoing a transformation as his once purple pupils were now pure black and the cornea around them now purple.

"Fairy Tail shall fall."

* * *

Tremors of sheer power shook the home base of the Lord Phantom Guild. The once strong wooden beams that were the foundation of the guild were now crumbling from the shockwaves of power emitting from the upper floors of the guild. Soon the building will collapse upon itself, taking whatever that still was foolish enough to stay within its premises. _Master Makarov_. Natsu managed to smile, his lips were rather dry, swollen and beaten. The wizard saint was definitely putting up a show upstairs. The fire mage winced in pain as he stared down at his body, his clothes ripped to shreds like he just came out of a tornado and lived to tell about it, fresh blood still poured from the open wounds all over his body. He felt battered, broken, and weak, after all he had given it his all in the last attack that he dealt out to the opposing slayer.

It had been one of the toughest battles to date yet. The Iron Dragon was on par with the Fire Dragon, his speed, his offensive and defensive abilities. Natsu had to admit, he was surprised he had won against the bastard. He was not sure if he was going to make it after Gajeel had taken that dragon like form. His skin had become scaly, shined like metal and sure as hell felt like metal. With each blow Natsu had dealt to him in that form, the sharp scaly skins easily tore his skin apart, creating more wounds over his rather already beaten body. Coughing up more blood, Natsu stared down at his beaten opponent, he towered over him as the victorious Dragon. Looking into the now wincing crimson eyes, he saw the humiliation spread throughout his features, his pain radiated off his eyes, it seemed he had nothing in him anymore to keep on fighting.

_No._ The man never had anything to fight for, nothing to protect, and nothing to live for. This was the slayers downfall and what led to his defeat. Natsu's sole strength came from his beloved Nakama, his guild, his friends and his loved ones. This is why he always rushed into the middle of battle's not caring for the outcome of his well-being. He had people to protect and they always came first, before anyone else, including himself. A large crash echoed through the corridors of the building, Natsu looked towards the direction of the noise, finding the cause, he saw as the first wooden beam had fallen from above. The building would not last for another ten minutes at most, redirecting his gaze back to Gajeel, he simply stared at his limp form.

_Jet. Droy. Levy._ This was the man who had caused harm to his beloved friends. This was the man he swore to reduce to nothing but ashes. This was the man he was to simply rip apart. Pure rage engulfed Natsu's being, his mind became a sea of lost memories. Holding his hands in his head, he was slowly losing it, the unwanted presence spread throughout his body. The memories became more vivid, more alive as they rein acted in his head, with each passing second the Dragon Slayer felt more _alive_. His body grew more light, his muscles relaxing, and the wounds that were carved into his body slowly healing. All source of feelings were lost, he could not feel anymore, his mind clouded in darkness. But one image plagued his mind.

_Flames._

A strangled laugh escaped from the man's lips. Once again focusing on Gajeel, he smelt the fear radiate off of him. _Oh that was a first_. Well there was a first for everything. Lifting the man up like he was just a feather, he tightened his grip on his neck, smirking as he saw the man gasped for breaths of air. Flames began to surround his opposite arm, raising it to meet Gajeel's eyes, Natsu simply chuckled as the man stared at the flames fully aware of his attentions.

"_**It's time for me to send you back to the scrapyard, you rusty piece of shit."**_

Gajeel's eyes widen as the man's voiced reached his ears. This wasn't the Salamander he was fighting with before, this being that stood before him was something on a totally different level. It was darker, menacing, devoid of life. _A monster._ He watched as the fire mage pulled his fists back and the flames intensified to higher levels, if he were to get hit by that, he would be screwed. Gajeel watched with dark eyes as the muscles in the man's arms moved, his flame engulfed fists would collide with his skin in mere seconds. Was this the same feeling that Levy had felt? The feeling of fear as someone much more powerful than you delivered your fate and all you could do was watch as it was handed to you? If he could have, the black haired man would have laughed at his stupidity.

"NATSU, get ahold of yourself, it's done, the war is over, get a grip my boy!" The voice of Makarov could be heard yelling at the guilds Dragon Slayer. Suddenly cheers erupted as Fairy Tail members saw their guild master standing proudly at the top of the stairs, carrying a familiar blonde figure over his shoulders. _Lucy_! Natsu's eyes snapped backed to reality, he felt his head ringing from pain. What the hell just happened in the last few minutes? He could not remember a thing. Feeling a rather large weight in his hands, Natsu's eyes widen as he saw Gajeel being the source of the weight, loosening his grip on his neck, the Iron Dragon fell to the floor.

"Natsu, come on, we have to get our asses out of here, this place won't hold out any longer." Gray yelled into his ear as he dragged the pink haired man by the shoulders out of the now collapsing building. Natsu did not say a word as he retreated with the rest of the Fairy Tail mages out of the Phantom Lord Guild. There was too much on his mind, what had happened in the last few minutes, why could he not remember and why had Lucy been in the guild headquarters of the enemy?

As the last of the mages of Fairy Tail escaped the building, a single laugh could be heard from a certain defeated Dragon Slayer still residing in the building.

* * *

Gajeel watched as yet again the fire mage rose up to his feet, dusting off the scraps of wooden material that fell on him on impact with the walls of the guild. "I got to admit Salamander, you can take a beating, but how long can you last?" Crimson eyes taunted jet black, Gajeel grinned in satisfaction as he saw a scowl take over Natsu's face. "I won't fall until I melt every last inch of you metal head." The shorter male yelled out, as he dashed towards him, flames present in his hands. Evading the incoming blow, Gajeel quickly reached out and grabbed Natsu's back pulling him in closer, with an evil chuckle, he slammed his right knee into his gut. He watched as saliva escaped the man's mouth as he hunched forward in pain.

"Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel yelled out as he slammed his now metal arm into the side of the unexpecting Dragon Slayer's head. Natsu once again was sent flying to the opposite side of the guild with a scream of pain. _No time for breaks._ Gajeel raised his arm as iron daggers began to form out of his forearms, pulling them out one by one, he quickly threw each out towards the airborne slayer. "Eat this!" The knifes flew by Natsu, some skinning him in the process, new cuts opened up on his body as blood began to trek down his tan skin, angered by this Natsu turned his whole tire body around, now facing the surprised Iron Dragon Slayer, flames spewed out of his feet, the power sent him flying towards Gajeel at high speeds. Taking notice of his now surprised look, the flame mage took the opportunity to twirl his body upwards, his knees now taking the full vision of Gajeel's eyes.

"Fire Dragon's Claws!" Gajeel felt the knees of his opponent slam into his chin at full force, sending him flying to the opposite direction. That bastard was a smart one after all. Gaining control of himself in midair, he landed gracefully on the wooden floorboards of the guild. Wiping the blood off of his chin, he stared down Natsu, who held a new look of determination in his eyes. "Now don't get too full of yourself Salamander, I'm just getting started." Gajeel said in annoyance as he watched Natsu inhale a breath of air.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Smirking as he saw the incoming twirling waves of flames, he would show the Fire Dragon Slayer a roar of his own. "Iron Dragon's Roar!" Soon forth Gajeel created his own hurricane, filled with his respective element, the two powerful attacks collided, neither seeming to die down nor falter. Both Dragons took a step back as their roars finally ceased to a stop, each sporting their own smirks as they realized each other's powers. Soon they were back into the heat of the moment, exchanging blow after blow, flames clashing against metal, neither one stopping the exchange. _It's time to finish this. _Jumping back a good ten feet, Gajeel watched as Natsu stared at him in a look of confusion, as to why he had suddenly stopped his attacks.

"It's time to show you the true power of a dragon, Salamander, no one has ever lived after seeing me in this form." It was true, when pushed to his limits, and at his maximum point of rage, Gajeel became very destructive and was a hard force to get under control. His power went beyond its normal limits, to a point where one could say he was fighting at such high levels, they would consider him a dragon. "Iron Dragon Scales." _This is where I end you Natsu Dragneel, I shall be the one standing on the podium, the greatest slayer of them all. _Gajeel felt the transformation take over, his skin began to change into a silver metallic color, it harden to match the strength of a dragons scales. The wounds that were once present on his body were now covered in metal plates. He felt invincible.

"Damn you're even uglier than before."

The remark took no effect on the Iron Dragon, he simply chuckled as he found himself standing face to face the now shocked Salamander. "Boo." He slammed his fists into Natsu's ribcage, a crunching noise could be heard as the man gasped out in pain. In this form there was no way to defend against his brutal attacks, Gajeel became the ultimate berserker with unmatched offensive strength and his skin hard as titanium. The black haired man watched as Natsu stumbled backwards a few steps, catching his footing, he began to go on the assault once again. Flame met the harsh metal that was his skin, vibrations of power vibrated around the two men as they exchanged blows. With each hit Natsu dealt out, new cuts appeared on his skin, proof that the scaly skin was the ultimate defense.

"I will break you Salamander." Gajeel whispered into the man's ear, as his claw like fingers dug its way into the pink haired man's stomach. With widened eyes, Natsu panicked as he blew flames out of his mouth, causing Gajeel to jump backwards. "I will send you back to the flames of hell, where you belong Dragneel." He watched curiously as his words seemed to strike a nerve on the now immobilized slayer, his head now looking down at the floorboards, his hands falling limp to the sides of his body. Then he began to speak in whispers, which only the heightened senses of a Dragon could pick up.

"I constantly live in my own world of hell that I call my mind, nothing but pain, sorrow and sin embraces me as I struggle to live, to say, I'm already in hell as you know it." What the fuck? This guy had truly lost it, he was now spitting out his life stories to the black haired man. But for some strange reason, Gajeel could relate to the words which Natsu had spoken. Ever since his adoptive father had left him to fend in the world, it seemed that everything came crashing down on him and reality was not such a pretty sight to see after all. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack.."

Gajeel eyes widen as he saw the fire mage charging at him at full force. But that's not what surprised him, he could see the wings of a dragon sprouting from the back of the Salamander. His arms were trailing behind his back as the flames continued to intensify each second as he ran towards the black haired man. _This man…_

The next moment Gajeel felt a bright light overwhelm him. The powerful flames came in contact with his body, the once powerful armor he had was reduced to nothing, as his bare skin embrace the flames of the dragon. His body fell to the floor limp, trying his best to regain control of his nonresponsive body to no prevail. Staring at the crumbling ceiling overhead, so this was his fate? He would forever be alone in this cold world in which he lived in, dying at the hands of a man whom he made his goal to defeat and traverse to the top of the world.

_Natsu Dragneel, who are you really?_ Gajeel watched as the said man towered over his weak appearance. A smile laid over his broken appearance, realizing that he had been the one to be victorious. The man coughed up blood as he observed Gajeel, wiping off his lips, he seemed to be lost in thought. Pained expressions appeared on his face, then utterly confused looks. With a groan the man raised his hands to his head, covering his face from the world. _What the hell is wrong with him._ Gajeel's body twitched as he felt the weird aura emit from the fire mage. It was strange, his scent was also disappearing, like the man before him was vanishing. Then a laughed filled the ears of the Iron Dragon.

It sounded nothing like the Salamander he had fought before. The laugh felt more sinister, dark, and restrained. Natsu's hands dropped from his face and he focused his attention before him. Gajeel eyes widened as looked into the eyes of the man that stood before him. He was not met with jet black, but a fierce, dark, petrifying look of red. Gajeel felt something build up in his whole tire body that he hadn't felt in such a long time. _Fear._ The Salamander he once knew was gone and standing before him was an entirely different being, it felt as if he was staring at a Dragon ready to devour anything in its way.

The realization then just hit Gajeel at full force. The man that was standing before him was indeed the man he wanted to destroy and rid of in the world, but at this very moment, his mind, his soul and his very conscious was being taken over. Natsu's words replayed in his mind over and over again, the man had said he was living in his very own world of hell..

_The bastard is in hell._

Gajeel was now being lifted above the ground, a tightening force made itself present on his neck. He could feel the lack of oxygen building up in his lungs, watching as the pink haired man stared deep into his eyes. A sickening smile that reminded him of himself adorned Natsu's features. Flames fell in his line of sight as the man pulled his fists back and began to speak.

"_**It's time for me to send you back to the scrapyard, you rusty piece of shit."**_

The voice was dark and sarcastic, no hints of feelings were present as each word slid off his tongue. Gajeel knew what the man was going through, and his very existence was in jeopardy of becoming something that the very world feared. "NATSU, get ahold of yourself, it's done, the war is over, get a grip my boy!" In what Gajeel assumed to be the Fairy Tail's guild master voice, called out for Natsu. In that instant it seemed the pink haired man had been brought back to reality, confused with his surroundings he was in a daze. The boy slackened his grip on the man he held and Gajeel began to breathe in the air that was neglected from him. With wide eyes Natsu dropped Gajeel, he went crashing to the floor below.

"Natsu, come on, we have to get our asses out of here, this place won't hold out any longer." Another voice made itself present, as he heard more of the failing infrastructure fall from above, indeed the guild was collapsing. As the last of the footsteps left the premises of the guild, Gajeel stared at the crumbling ceiling before him. Would his cause of death really be from this worthless building that was once called home for the guild he was in?

He would have rather died from that imbecile of a Dragon Slayer called Salamander. Gajeel simply laughed as the building continued to crumble.

* * *

He had lived his whole life wondering how it would it feel to have a home to come to everyday, friends to laugh with, pester him in annoyance and fight with to see who was stronger. The black hair man stiffened at the thought, yes he was indeed alone in this world. Once Metalicana had disappeared from Gajeel's world, the boy was left alone once again. It was his greatest fear and he spent his life trying to learn how to lock away this anxiety from the world. But in the end it had only made him weak, look at him, he laid here, death a few moments away. What had he truly wanted from his life? What did he have to live for?

Marine hair struck the corner of his mind. _Levy._ That rune scholar from Fairy Tail, why was he thinking of her at a time like this? They had only met the night before, yet he had felt his inner instincts call out to him. But there was no way he could accept these feelings, they were what made the mind weak after all right? _Shit._ Even if he did embrace these feelings whole heartedly, there would be no outcome to come out of it. He had literally broken the girl down every split second in their encounter. Not only that but he had marked her as a message from the Phantom Lord guild for the whole town of Magnolia to see, the pain, the embarrassment and the shame that he must have done to her. The girl had to be terrified of him, who wouldn't, he's nothing more than a dragon.

_Metalicana_.

"Looks like the flame bastard will stand at the top."

Out of the corner of his eyes, a glimpse of dark blue caught his attention. _Juvia._ What the hell was the stupid girl doing still here? She should have escaped a long time ago, she will surely die along with him if she stayed any longer. "Gajeel-sama, you must get up, leave with Juvia." The rain women said approaching the beaten form of the Dragon. Pushing her hand away which tried to lift him up to his feet, he growled in annoyance. "No get the fuck out of here woman, or you will surely die."

Gajeel and Juvia were both S-Class mages within the guild, they weren't exactly close, but found themselves doing missions with one another as they were one of the strongest mages in the guild. A small bond did occur between them, but Gajeel had simply shrugged it off, he made nothing of the short. "Juvia will not leave you behind! You must liv…" But the black haired man caught her off, anger filled his eyes as he harshly responded to her.

"I have nothing to fucking live for, all my life I've fought for one thing and one thing only, and look where I am now, defeated worthless, it's pitiful." Gajeel stared into the girl's blue eyes, he could smell the scent of tears beginning to form, and her emotions running wild. That was rather strange, Juvia was an emotionless girl, even more emotionless than he was, and her heart was shielded off from the world with many walls, fortified with many locks, with the keys discarded.

"Gajeel, please, come with me, we don't have to be alone any longer.."

"….."

"Juvia cannot watch as her only friend in the world is taken away from Juvia!" The dark haired blue woman was now sobbing before Gajeel. He was rather speechless at what she had just admitted to him. She saw him as a friend. _Friend._ The simple word repeated over and over in his mind. It was something he craved for, for such a long time and now he realized he may just have something to live for. Staring at the girl who was now sobbing to herself, the familiar visage of a certain scholar filled his mind. Maybe he did have something to live for in the world. Sighing in defeat, the Dragon Slayer tugged on the girl's ankles, she stopped her bawling as she looked down at him, Gajeel motioned for her to help him out. With a small smile she grabbed the man's arm, carefully lifting the heavy weight over her shoulder and stood up slowly with him.

Gajeel body still felt like shit and couldn't help but lean most of his weight against the smaller girl. Juvia was a strong girl though, he figured she could manage his rather muscular frame. Placing her hand over his chest for more support, she began to slowly guide the injured slayer to the nearest exit. "Thanks." The man grumbled under his breath.

"Wha…what?" The girl said with wide eyes, this was the first time she has ever heard the legendary "Black Steel" mutter any sort of thanks to anyone, let alone her. Maybe he was slowly opening up his heart to the world that he tried to hide it away from for so many years.

For the second time in his life, Gajeel felt as if the walls around his heart continued to slowly crumble.

_Shit._

* * *

**_Hmm, a bit of light shed on Natsu's past, hints here and there. This is interesting..._**

**_Look's like Gajeel's attitude is slowly beginning to change.._**

**_Haha well I hope everyone enjoyed, please leave some feedback! =)_**


	6. Enter The Sleeping Beauty

**Heya guys, _here comes chapter 6.._**

**_2nd week into my senior year and its going well...oh yeah got a new girlfriend as well..._**

**_Gotta get used to the school year, been finding myself more tired after school and hanging with my girl/friends. So once I get that all sorted out, I'll have more time to write...but I plan on doing some editing on earlier chapters sometime this week._**

**_Also the manga is getting really interesting...mmm we need the next arc already! Haha, anyways enjoy and review!_**

* * *

"Lucy, please don't worry about me, I'm fine, really."

The marine haired girl pleaded as she squeezed the blonde girl's hands reassuring her. Lucy stood at the side of the bed in which Levy laid in, eyeing her with tears on the brim of escaping. With a slight nod of the head, Lucy pulled her hand away and gave the scholar a small smile of support. "Okay Levy, I believe you, but if there's anything else you need to say, don't be afraid to tell me, I'm here for you!" Levy smiled in return at the comforting words of the celestial mage. Both girls were getting rather close, it felt as if they were long lost sisters. They shared the same interests, laughed at the littlest of things and sadly enjoyed talking to each other about their hopeless love life.

Looking around the small room they were in, the walls were painted with a light sky blue color, a small glass table was in the center of the room, on top of it was a small glass vase with a couple of roses, behind the bed in which she was currently resting in was a small window, that held a nice view of Magnolia. The two girls were currently in one of the spare clinical rooms located within the guild, of course the other rooms were occupied with the rest of the Shadow Gear team. Luckily for the marine haired girl she would be able to leave within the next few hours, unfortunately for her friends they would be locked in confinement under Makarov's orders until a full recovery was established. Both men were sporting broken bones throughout their body, Jet even experiencing a mild case of internal bleeding.

Shuttering at the thought, Levy refocused her attention on the girl that was standing before her. Lucy had been here for quite a few hours now, she had caught a quick gist of what happened while she was kidnapped and once she heard word of Levy's injuries she rushed to medical quarters. The next few hours Levy had spent recalling every single moment, every single last detail of the events that had conspired between her and a certain Dragon Slayer. Overall the whole tire situation had been frightful, yet deep down, the rune scholar had somehow enjoyed it. But she wouldn't tell her best friend that, she couldn't for the life of her. How would the blon- no matter a fact who would just sit back and accept the fact that the girl had FELT something the whole time the man, the guild called ENEMY harass her! Levy felt so shameful, embarrassed, like she had committed the biggest crime known to existence. It felt like sin, yet she was left with the lingering thought of wanting more of this sweet sensation that arose in the pits of her stomach, to satisfy her mysterious hunger that she craved from that man. Oh lord how did she end up this way?

Gajeel was scary, yet it felt as if…if…she did not really know. But there was something about the crimson eyed man that urged her to find out more about him, there was something aching in her heart, to unravel his past, to see his desire's, what was his goal, what was his dreams, who was he really? When he had held her, she had felt safe in a way, as if he was protecting her from the world. With her eyes suddenly widening, she had finally reached a conclusion. The Dragon Slayer was hiding from the very world as we know it and he was struggling to figure out how to be accepted back into it.

"Levy, are you alright?" Lucy asked worriedly as she saw the sudden jolt of life from the marine haired girl's eyes.

"Ahaha, oh yes, yes, everything is alright Lucy, I just remembered something that just came popping into my head, promise! Levy quickly replied to the questioning blonde, waving her hands franticly in the air, she did not want the celestial mage knowing about her sudden ever growing interest with Gajeel. No. Not just yet anyways. Watching as the girl nodded her head slowly, she sighed in relief as the blonde seemed to believe her. Maybe it was time for some questions of her own? With a smirk now plastered all over her face and with a slight nod of agreement to her idea, she began her attack.

"So how are things with Natsu?" She watched as Lucy shifted uncomfortably with a small cough as a pink blush overcame her face.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Lucy choked out at the sudden question about a certain pink haired Dragon Slayer.

Levy simply giggled at the other girls embarrassment, Lucy was rather an easy person to tease. "Oh jeeze Lucy, calm down, it's not like I'm saying you like the guy-." She trailed off as she saw the blondes eyes literally turn into large pancakes, oh this was interesting, so the celestial mage fancy's the dragon slayer? The scholar had figured Lucy was attracted to the man in some way, but to get a reaction from her just with a simple mention of his name? Adding a mental note to tease the girl later about the member of the opposite sex, she decided it would be better off discussing the man's wellbeing.

"Have you and Natsu talked after the…you know fight?" Once again the scholar began to speak to the celestial mage.

"No we haven't, he's been acting rather strange ever since his fight with Gajeel, from what I heard he started to act different towards the end of the fight and ever since he's been distancing himself away from everyone."

Now this was not shocking to Levy, for obvious reasons, for the years Natsu has been here, there had been many instances in which the Dragon Slayer had become rather distant from everyone in the guild for a period of time. Levy was not the one to pry into his personal affairs, but she had picked up bits and pieces from other members in the guild, acquiring tads bit of information on his past. Nothing really solid, but to say at most, the man had experienced some traumatizing events which still seem to haunt the poor man. No one really knew what to do to cheer him up, even Happy was stumped when it came to Natsu's sudden change of attitude, Levy was pretty confident in the fact Happy surely knew full well about the man's past, after all they were best friends right after Gray. As Natsu grew older, he seemed to stop sulking around the guild and find other places to seclude himself to, namely local bars located around the town of Magnolia, credited from the very eyes of the members of the guild themselves.

"Maybe you should try talking to him Lucy, I'm sure he could use the relief of spilling everything off of his chest." If there was one person in the guild that could possibly get the stubborn Dragon Slayer to open up, it had to be Lucy. Levy was not an idiot, nor blind at the interactions between the two, she was pretty sure everyone else in the guild had notice how rather closely they acted around each other, besides the fact they have not known each other long. Maybe, just maybe, the celestial mage can mend the wounds that have been inflicted on his aching heart.

"Thanks Levy, I'll make sure to talk to Natsu the next time I see him around." Taking a few steps to the door, she turned her head around slightly with a smile. "I have to get going now, I'm rather tired myself, get some rest girl!" Giggling to herself Levy nodded her head towards Lucy as she stepped out the door and soon was out of sight.

"Lucy…"

* * *

Raunchy music played through the air, obnoxious yelling ringed throughout the building and the smell of alcohol tainted his sense of smell. Overall this was one of the best taverns in all of Magnolia, it played the latest hits and had the most expensive alcohol to cleanse one minds of all it had to deliver. Natsu found himself in this very tavern every other month or so, whenever his mind was plagued with unwanted thoughts of the past, or his current dilemma at hand. Taking the small shot glass in front of him, he instantly downed the clear looking liquid, the beverage burning his throat every second as he swallowed. Putting the glass down as he finished, he wiped off his mouth as he felt the stinging aftermath arise in his throat.

Natsu was not a heavy drinker, but even if he was, it wouldn't really matter, no matter how much he drank, the man could not ever get drunk. His body's metabolism worked four times better than the average human and this allowed his body to literally filter most of the alcohol that made its way into his body. To say the least the Dragon Slayer could get a small buzz and that was all he really needed to allow his mind go numb and calm his nerves. He never really understood why his body worked this way, but if it wasn't for it, he was pretty sure he would not have his current physique or battled through illnesses, it was like his body was a human vaccine, his immune system also worked far much better than the average human. He assumed growing up with a Dragon and learning the lost techniques of their magic's, his body began to adapt, to change to match the roles of a Dragon. It really did not faze him, he's seen so much in this world to question the possibilities.

"Would you like another drink Sir? The bartender asked, giving a slight nod, the bartender grabbed the empty glass off the table and hurriedly went off in the opposite direction to fill his drink.

Turning his head around to view his surroundings, people were dancing, drinking, talking, and not giving a care to how they wasted their time. Allowing his mind to drift off, he found himself thinking about a certain blonde haired girl once again that night. He found himself thinking about the girl occasionally since they first met, but now she was taking up most of his thoughts as of yesterday. The guild battle had been replaying every second in his mind, what had happen during the moments he had forgotten, why was Lucy there and had that bastard called Gajeel survive? Shortly after these last thoughts the bartender had returned and place the once empty shot glass now filled with certainly the same liquid that had burned his throat earlier on the table. Muttering thanks Natsu returned to his daydreaming.

"Lucy…"

He hasn't been talking to her much lately, he wasn't doing it intentionally, it was just there was too much on his mind and he wasn't too sure of himself. Something had happen during the fight with Gajeel and he didn't like it, the pink haired man always had a perfect memory, the last time he could remember ever forgetting anything of any nature was when…"Shit." Natsu growled to himself as images began to plague his mind, his past resurfacing once again. _Why does this have to happen…her of all people too._ What Natsu had feared all these years is surely coming back to haunt him and there would be nothing he could do to stop _it._ Downing the beverage in front of him, he pushed himself away from the bar side, now heading towards the front doors of the tavern, it was time for him to leave.

As he stepped out the door a cold breeze rushed by him, it was surely close to mid night. Taking a breath, he inhaled the air as it slowly entered his body, feeling a bit calmer he began to walk towards his house. Suddenly his eyes widened as a scent hit his nose. _Fear._ Not only was it strong, but it was coming from a certain person, a person whom he was just thinking about just not too long ago. _Lucy_. In just moments his legs were carrying him in the direction of the girl. How the hell could he smell her emotions from all the way over here, he didn't even know where the girl lived, he could have understood if she was standing outside and the wind could have carried her scent towards his direction, but no that couldn't be the case, it was just too late for a girl like herself to be out. Yet his inner most instincts had sprung to life, telling him to go, to find her, to protect her, it was as if she were…

Shaking his head at the thought, the Dragon Slayer stopped at the front door at what seems to be an apartment building. Contemplating on barging in or knocking on the door, he smelled the fear escalating to higher levels, cursing he began to turn the doorknob, but nothing happened. Quickly casting his eyes to the sides of the building he spotted a small window that was opened. _Bingo._

* * *

Natsu stepped through the window, being careful not to knock over anything in the process, he did not want to be caught breaking into the stellar mages house. Then the scent of honey hit his nose at full force. His heart began to race and body began to burn up from the overwhelming scent of the mage. Of course he knew that the apartment complex would smell like her, after all she lived alone, but to this extent? His eyes began to roam around the dark room, a small wooden desk with books laid on top of it, it was placed in the corner of the room, in the opposite side there was a large brown mahogany wardrobe and finally a small bed stuck out in the center of the room. Looking closely he saw a humanoid figure laying in it, wrapped in the pink fabrics of the bed.

_Lucy._

Sure enough the blonde girl was there lying in the bed, but her usual peaceful appearance was replaced with a stressed strained look. He could see the sweat run down her forehead and her eyebrows furrowed in an unusual way, her usual well-kept hair was sprawled all around the pillow, the scent began to flow freely into his nose, and the scent of fear still rising after each passing moment. _Was she having a nightmare?_ And sure enough the girl began to stir in her sleep, unraveling herself out of the confinements of the blankets, pants began to escape her pink lips and her hands dug tightly into her pillow. Damn. What the hell was the man supposed to do? He wasn't really traversed in the ways of comforting a girl, or at least soothing them during a nightmare, it wasn't just something he picked up during his time with Igneel, nor the time he wandered the streets alone.

Unsure of what to do, Natsu looked at the girl one last time before he found himself taking small steps towards the sleeping girl. This girl continues to intrigue him in every single way possible and was the very source where his mind escaped to. Just being in the blonde's presence or just thinking about her laugh or smile seemed to calm him and made his heart feel so light in his chest. Deep down he could feel something, he couldn't really put a finger on it, but there was something there, something that called out for him, something he wanted to deny, yet was curious to let it loose. In the corner of his soul, something called out to one person, his instincts roared for the man to follow them, but he couldn't, he would never allow himself to do it. _ Not again._ Never. He would never follow the primal instincts which guided him as a Slayer. Nothing ever came good out of it…nothing.

"Please…don't….I…"

Natsu snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Lucy begin to whimper out words in her dream like state. Gulping, he allowed his hand to reach out towards the girl suffering from her nightmare. Placing his hand over hers, he gasped at how cold she was, tightening his grip on her, he let his body temperature to slightly rise, surely enough he began to feel the coldness beginning to diminish and warmth spreading throughout her hand. Looking at both of their hands, he realized how small her hands were compared to his. Wasn't this the second time they had ever held hands? No. The girl was asleep and he was just trying his best to comfort her. Looking down at her face, her face began to look calmer now, was it because of his presence? Observing her further, the girl looked so innocent, so fragile, and so beautiful. For some strange reason he felt the need to protect her, to never allow a single mark to adorn her beautiful ivory skin, yet she had already been captured by the enemy once. Shaking his head in frustration, he made his mind up, ignoring the consequences he would surely face in the near future, he would protect this girl with every ounce of fiber in his body.

"Natsu…"

His heart nearly jumped out of his body as he heard Lucy say his name in her slumber. Looking at her face, a small smile adorned her pretty face. It looked like the nightmare had stopped. This girl was truly something else, with a small smile on his face, he watched as the girl's body began to relax and her regular scent began to overtake the once dominant smell of fear. Letting go of her hand, he stepped back towards the window, her hand slowly withdrew against her chest, seemingly holding her heart.

"Silly girl." Natsu said as he escaped into the night through the window, making sure he closed it tight behind him.

* * *

**_-Lucy's Dream-_**

_"Where am I?"_

_Lucy eyed the eerie setting around her, nothing but darkness, never ending darkness that went on for miles. Not a shred of light filled the unknown area in which she was present in. A cold chill ran down her spine and in an instant her arms were wrapped around herself, trying to comfort her being. She couldn't lie to herself, but she felt afraid, she didn't know where she was, and the scenery didn't really help at, nothing but black filled her eyes, and not only that but the atmosphere felt gloomy. The lone girl began to walk into the waiting darkness ahead of her._

_It seemed like hours as she walked, nothing came into sight, nothing but impending darkness. Was this the abyss, where only the damned walked in internal clutches of the demons that wait to swallow your being whole. She shuttered at the thought, she would surely lose herself if she stayed in this realm of darkness, Lucy had always been a strong willed girl, but if she was rendered alone, her spirit will slowly wither away along with her integrity. _

_Suddenly the world that she was lost in began to shake fiercely, her head began to ache, it burned as if she had a fever and she began to feel dizzy, bringing her hands to her head she tried to calm her head with the seas of stinging pain that hit her each second. Opening and closing her eyelids, she saw with each blink, the darkness began to disappear, replaced with light she once thought to have disappeared from existence, tints of grey and silver became present in the world once covered by the darkness. As the pain and shaking dissolved, the spirit mage opened up her eyes to see the now changed world before her._

_A strong gust of wind flew by, her hair following suit, she was currently standing outside what seemed to be a large castle. Turning around her eyes met clouds, with widened eyes she looked down. "I would be splattered if I were to fall…" She was not being sarcastic either, she was literally at the peak of the castle and it looked like the walls scaled for miles in the sky. Stepping back a few steps, she bumped into something rather hard. Turning around with an eep, she saw a tall slender man with a devilish grin on his face. Purple and black eyes complemented his evil like features._

_"Master Jose!" The blonde gasped as the Guild Master of Lord Phantom towered over her small figure._

_"That's what they call me." The dark haired man said with an evil glint in his eyes as he took a single step towards. He seemed to chuckle as he saw the girl pace backwards as he moved in her direction._

_"What do you want…"_

_"What do I want…" He began to speak, licking his lips slowly as he eyed her. "I want to taint the pure smile that lies on that pretty face of yours, I want to shatter you inside-out, I want to see you shred tears and I want to shatter your very being."_

_Fear rushed through her veins, her heart pounding against her ribcage, she never felt so much fear in her life. "Bu-but why?" She stuttered out the words, each syllable that rolled off her tongue held more fear than the last._

_"Your father wishes for this."_

_Her whole world came crashing down on her, the life that she did not want, a life that she fled from, the father that held no remorse wanted his claim again over her. Tears escaped her eyes, she continued to walk backwards until she felt one of her feet slip of the edge of the tower, catching her balance, she tilted her head backwards eyeing the skies in terror. There was nowhere for her to run._

_"To return to a fairytale lifestyle, don't all girls of your age wish for this, a life where your fate is decided, a life of riches with a man you will never love, a life where your father determines each step you take, the roads that will open and close for you…" With each word the man spoke, Lucy felt as if daggers were being stabbed into her heart and being twisted slowly._

_"You will be nothing but a pawn in his eyes, a simple thrown out ragdoll, garbage, trash, a way to expand his empire, your nothing but tool in the eyes of his." Taking more steps towards the torn girl, he now stood face to face to Lucy, her breathing was hard and rapid, as salty tears ran down her cheek. With a satisfied grin he reached out his hands cupping the side of her cheeks, digging his sharp nails into her skin._

"Please…don't….I…" _The next thing the pleading girl knew, she was tumbling from the tower. Gravity pushed her downwards to the earth below, she could feel the air pressing tightly against her body, she felt so light and it was getting hard to breath. Closing her eyes, she peered deep into her soul, searching for answers, searching for why this was happening to her, searching for her emotions. Time seemed to slow down as she continued to fall from the sky, she felt a weird sensation build up in the innermost part of her body. Lucy felt her senses beginning to heighten, she did not know if it was from the adrenaline or the fear of falling to her demise, but her mind felt as if it was on cloud nine. She could hear her heart beating, it was slow, yet strong, its rhythm in sync with the moment she was experiencing. It was calling out for someone. Not just anyone special, but him. It had to be him._

_Thump. Her heart pulsed wildly._

_N-_

_Thump. It pulsed once again._

_Nat._

_Thump. This time it hurt._

_Natsu._

_Thump. A strange sensation coursed throughout her whole tire body._

_'Natsu!'_

_"LUUUCCCYYYY!" She heard the familiar voice course through the air, sniffling she tilted her head to see Natsu running towards her in full speed, a look of determined eyes plastered on his face. Her savior was here. In a split second he launched himself into the air, the next thing she knew, strong warm arms were wrapped around her waist and her face buried into the corner of his neck. He smelled so, so natural, a carefree like scent, like the man had been raised in a forest and not once took a step out of it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt the rough collision vibrate throughout her body as they crashed through a crumbling wall. As the last pieces of wall fell around them, Lucy stared down at Natsu, a wide grin on his face._

_"Are you alright Lucy?"_

_"Yes…you saved me Natsu."_

_"Of course I did, I have to protect you, you know?"_

_Her heart began to beat faster at the man's words. Warmth quickly spread through her body like wildfire, realizing she was still on top of the very attractive Dragon Slayer she felt her cheeks begin to burn up. Lowering her head in embarrassment, her bangs covered her face as she stared into his chest. It felt so right in his arms, she was not scared of what the world had in store with her, she knew he would be here to protect her, Natsu was her knight and she was the damsel in distress. She felt his hand softly press against the back of her head, slowly he lifted her head up and their eyes met. If her heart wasn't already about to explode, well it was safe to say now it would be the appropriate time for it to combust. He peered into her eyes with worry, like she was the only girl in the world he looked at and it made Lucy feel incredible._

_"Luce are you sure you're alright?" Yup that had done it. The nickname had surely sent the celestial girl to the heavens._

_"Ye-yeah." She couldn't really speak._

_"Silly girl." Natsu responded with a slight laugh._

_The sound of his laughs filled her ears, looking at him, she noted at how happy he looked._

_So she did the one thing she knew she could do best, she smiled._

* * *

Women's laughter filled the guild. Two set of eyes watched a familiar scene play out before them, and surely enough they were enjoying every moment of it. The last few days were rough and everyone seemed to be in the gutters, but with the return of a certain Dragon Slayer to the guild, provoking fights with a certain ice mage, Fairy Tail became lively once again. Smiles could be seen from miles away, the yelps of pain as Erza began to punish the two mages and more laughs erupting through the crowds of friends.

"Looks like Natsu is back to his normal self Lucy." Levy said examining the scene before her.

"Yeah I'm glad, the guild wasn't really in good spirits and with him gone it seemed so mellow…" Lucy responded to her best friend smiling as she eyed Natsu out of the corner of her eye. For some strange reason she felt so relieved, she woke up with a wide smile, a strange tingling sensation in the pits of her stomach and her hand felt awfully warm. Looking at her small hand, she wondered if a certain pink haired slayer had been in her apartment during her traumatic nightmare. She shivered remembering the god awful dream of Phantom's Guild Master harsh words piercing through her heart, it all felt so real, every single moment, even when she was in the arms of Natsu. Shaking her head, she did not want Levy seeing her face turn into a tomato, which would be really embarrassing, considering the fact Levy probably knew about her attraction to the hot-headed man.

"Hey Earth to Lucy!" Natsu was suddenly in front of the blonde haired girl's face waving his hands around trying to catch her attention.

"Oh Natsu, sorry what did you say?" Lucy said as she was brought back from her thoughts about the previous night.

"I said if you wanted to go on a mission with Happy, Ice Princess and I?"

"Bastard I thought I told you to stop calling me that!

"Pffft."

Lucy happily laughed as the two began to bicker with one another once again, it honestly felt so good for everything to be back to normal once again. Natsu noticing Lucy's happy aroma, he let a grin overtake him as Gray continued to pester him. "So are you down for it or not?" He questioned once again, watching as the stellar mage nodded eagerly, he smirked and responded with a nod of his own. It would be good to make up for the lack communication between him and her, Natsu wasn't sure if Lucy was mad at him deep down for his lack of being in the guild, or the fact he neglected everyone's worried gestures, but she seemed to be fine.

Thud.

Everyone's eyes on instinct followed the culprit of the sound, the guild doors had been opened and in walked in two familiar figures. In an instant gasps, whispers and a familiar growling sound filled through the Guild. Natsu's eyes narrowed eyeing the figures dangerously, as they took a few more steps into the guild. He couldn't believe it, but his eyes were not betraying him, the two figures that entered the guild were truly there. The rage from few days prior was beginning to build up in him once again. Could he ever get a damn break for once?

"What the fuck are the two of you doing here in Fairy Tail?" Natsu said through gritted teeth as he felt his temperature begin to rise.

"…." No response.

"Gajeel are you and your little lady friend here back for revenge, because if that's the case, I would so kindly hand your asses to you fuckers."

* * *

**_PhoenixeDragon- Now you really thought I wouldn't have the NaLu falling scene? Tsk Tsk. I had planned on having it last chapter, but I decided to have it focused more on bits and pieces of Natsu's past and the fight. So I redid the scene in my own little way ^_^. Looking back I probably could have managed to fit it in but I have a stubborn mind :P. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to introduce Gray/Juvia together, I got some ideas but nothing official as of yet._**

**_Helekiller2- Who say's it wasn't Gajeel? Hmmm...for all we know it could have been Gray haha! ;)_**


	7. Enter The Confession Of A Dragon

_**Hello everyone welcome to the next chapter of A Dragon's Rose!**  
_

_**Authors notes will be at the bottom make sure you read it. Anyways enjoy!**_

* * *

_He simply just stood there with the women of the rain, surrounded by nothing but broken wood, furniture, metal, and all sorts of random debris. The guild was in mere ruins. He felt no pity, no remorse, he would not allow himself to mourn over this event, after all it was his fate. This guild was not his home, his guild mates were not his friends, not even acquaintances, just strangers in this cold world he called reality. He knew the woman that stood beside him felt the same way, they did not share the same pasts, but they both indeed shared the same emotions, in which had brought the two together._

_Juvia had taken care of his injuries after dragging him out of the collapsing building, not leaving the side of the Iron Dragon for even a moment. Gajeel noted the perseverance in her eyes the whole time she had tended to his wounds, he saw that the words she had spoken were true. Was this what it truly felt like to have a friend? After scavenging the wreckage around them for metals of all sorts, Gajeel's body was soon rejuvenating to its former state, the opposing Dragon had surely inflicted an unimaginable amount of damage to him, hell if it wasn't for the fact he was a Dragon Slayer himself, he would've been surely have been dead by now._

_Honestly he did not know what he was going to do now, his blood screamed for revenge, yet his heart ached and his soul called out for something. The very feeling of yearning for something was strange to the Iron Dragon, he never wanted much in this world, the satisfaction of living and conquering others was enough to please him, but he desired more. With a frustrated sigh he turned to look at Juvia, who in returned casted him a glance as well, what had she been thinking the past few hours? Shrugging, the built man glanced upwards to the sky, eyeing as a single black raven flew overhead, how he would wish he could simply be like that magnificent bird in the sky. To be able to simply fly away from what life threw at you and not give a rat's ass about the world. But life would never be that simple, now could it?_

"_Taking pity on the past will not make life any easier on you two."_

_With widen eyes and teeth bared, Gajeel twirled around jumping in front of the now surprised Juvia protectively, focusing his attention on the short wizard saint that stood before them. What the hell was Fairy Tail's Guild Master doing out here? Whatever the hell the reason was, Gajeel would make sure he wouldn't go down without a fight. _

"_Here to finish what that bastard Dragon of yours failed to do?" Gajeel said tauntingly to the man whom did not look a little surprised from his outburst._

"_Natsu could have simply ended your existence, the young boy may be an imbecile, but his intentions are good." Makarov stared into Gajeel's eyes hard, not a waiver of intimidation hinted in his pupils, but rather a pang of guilt embraced his features. Glancing at the girl behind him, she seemed to be sharing the mans emotions as well._

"_It may be true that the two of you have drawn blood from my children and the anger still resides in my heart…." The man trailed off as he saw Gajeel's posture began to slacken and his arms slowly fell to his sides as he stared into the ground below._

"_The two of you have never experienced what it is to truly to be accepted by others, a place to call home and friends that will do anything for their Nakama, now have you?" Fairy Tail's guild master questioned the two. The wise man already knew the answer, he had seen it in their eyes, it was an ability of his to be able to stare into the souls of others and make do with what he had seen. Maybe that's why his guild was at the very top, where everyone embraced one another, with different characteristics and abilities, this is what made the guild flawless, where everyone makes up for each other's weakness's. _

_Gajeel's fists clenched at the man's words, every single one were true. It was something that he had truly wished for at such a young age, surely Juvia wished the same. But what was Makarov truly getting at, what was his goal, had he truly not come here to end their lives? The next few moments stunned the two former S-Class mages as the old man held out his hands to the two._

"_Take my hands, I shall lead my future children into redemption, you both shall walk down the path of light, forget the past and move onwards towards a new road, a bright future shall embrace you in the halls of Fairy Tail."_

_Gajeel and Juvia looked at each other, their hearts aching for what was promised to them from the Guild Master. The blue haired girl nodded to Gajeel in confirmation. Looking back towards the hand outreached to them, he slowly reached his hand out. Would the road to a new future be this easy? No. It wouldn't be, but fuck, they needed a new start, a new life, this is what they had needed since the beginning. Firmly grasping the man's hand he shook it, acknowledging every word that he had spoken before._

"_The road to forgiveness shall not be easy."_

"_Heh, shit nothing's ever easy in life old man." Crimson eyes watched as the old man before him simply nodded and turned away, walking into the opposite direction, his hands signaling them to follow._

_So they followed their new Guild Master into their new futures._

* * *

"What the fuck are the two of you doing here in Fairy Tail?" And the first to greet them of course had to be the damn flame head. He looked utterly pissed off to see them in his presence, hell everyone in the guild was either ticked off or surprised that they would actually be anywhere near the Fairy Tail vicinity. Whispers and gasps filled the guild, and of course the topic being centered on them. Damn he was getting annoyed rather quickly, but he would maintain his composure for the sake of his word with the wizard saint. Oh the road of redemption is going to suck ass.

"Gajeel are you and your little lady friend here back for revenge, because if that's the case, I would so kindly hand your asses to you fuckers."

Oh now the fucker had pissed him off, he would surely knock some sense into that bastards head, before he could raise his now shaking fists, he felt Juvia's hand gripping on his shoulder and he saw as she shook her head at him. With a small snarl he calmed himself down and simply stared ahead at the enraged Fire Dragon. Gajeel would get a second shot at the bastard, not now, but eventually they would exchange talons once again and the next time iron shall reign supreme. Suddenly a very familiar scent hit his nostrils, the powerful smell of lavenders.

_Levy._

And surely enough the marine haired girl was standing alongside the celestial mage at the other end of the guild. Their eyes locked in an intense gaze, neither moving a muscle as they stared one another down, then emotions began to attack the girl at full force. First panic hit her facial features, then pain and finally terror. For some reason this had stung Gajeel, he was no idiot, he knew the girl had to be horrified of him, after all he wasn't the type to make good a first impression. Hell when has he ever made a impression? The dark haired man watched as Lucy began to whisper soothing words into the now shaking scholar's ear. _Shit._ That's how exactly he had felt at that very moment, more or less like a pile of shit.

"Shit I knew you weren't the brightest of all people in the guild, but to this extent Salamander?" Gajeel hissed at Natsu as he moved his left shoulder into his view.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Natsu screamed as he saw the once Shadow Lord's insignia replaced with a very familiar black emblem. Of course more whispers from before began to spread around the guild, earning another irritated look from Gajeel. Did these people ever shut the fuck up? "How the hell…why the fuck would Master let you two in…" Natsu was at a loss of words, he hardly could care who the old geezer accepted into the guild, but this…this just crossed the line. The bastard had hurt Levy and her friends, and his little friend there was probably the one who had kidnapped Lucy!

"Natsu please calm down…" The blonde haired girl reached out and grasped his hand, immediately Natsu's anger had vanished into thin air, and his attention redirected to the celestial mage. He could feel the warmth spreading throughout his body as she looked deep into his eyes, trying to calm him. "I don't forgive what they have done to us…but I know from the bottom of my heart Master Makarov intentions are good…believe in him Natsu.." Lucy's soft voiced pierced into his being, her angelic voice soothing his spirit, he felt much more relaxed and the adrenaline which pumped his heart slowed down to its normal pace. How the hell was she able to do that to him so easily? The Fire Dragon should have been on a fiery rampage right about now, but no, here he was standing rather relaxed and slowly forgetting the fact the "new" members had been the very ones who've damaged their now recuperating guild.

"What a nuisance." Gajeel simply stated rather annoyed at the pink haired teen, he began to make his way towards the end of the guild, his eyesight solely focused on one particular girl. Natsu gritted his teeth as he felt Gajeel's shoulder bump into his harshly, Lucy taking notice of the Natsu's frustration squeezed his hand harder, which seemed to calm him down. Sighing Natsu gave up in defeat as he let Gajeel pass by along with the blue haired girl. Juvia took a small glance at the celestial mage, who in returned looked with a questioningly look, it seemed Lucy was more surprised than afraid of the rain mage and was rather perplexed at Makarovs decision, after all, Gajeel and herself were rather surprised at his sudden offer.

"Levy!" The brunette card mage called out the rune scholar's name.

The outburst caused most members of the guild heads to turn, to see the sight of the Levy fleeing from the guild, tears streaming down her face. Lucy bit down on her bottom lip nervously at the sight of her panicking friend, of course she knew the cause of her sudden departure, after all, the source of her anxiety had suddenly waltzed into the guild bearing the mark of their guild. Heck, she wasn't the only one in shock, the entire guild had been at the sudden intrusion, nevertheless the commotion seemed to die down, the members of the guild returning to their original business, yet a certain scarlet haired women eyes never leaving the two mages.

* * *

His cerulean eyes followed a certain mage that had caught his interest. Of course the ice mage had been rather surprised to see mages they had recently just gone to war with, now trekking around in their homes as if they have lived there their whole lives. Hell, it felt as if they were vandalizing their guild with the simple steps that were taken within the Guild quarters. But that did not matter at the current moment, what truly mattered was the fact _that_ the girl who was walking along side Gajeel, he had most definitely seen back at their former guild during the conflict a few days prior. Eyes widen in realization as the girl turned her head to the side and their blue eyes met for the second time.

Yes that was the very same girl Grey had seen standing above the staircases, he could remember those cold lost dark blue pupils staring back at him with hopelessness, it had been plastered all over her facial features. How could he not remember her? She held the same eyes in which he once bestowed upon his former childhood self. The ice mage had been simply wandering the lands of Fiore, Grey had felt like a puppet, devoid of all life and purpose, where was the man to go, he had in fact lost everything dear to him at such a young age, something in which he and a certain pink haired Dragon Slayer had shared in common. Maybe that was why they were so close, Grey had never been the type to become good friends with anyone, let alone acquaintances, yet he had easily accepted the loud flame headed idiot in a heartbeat.

Refocusing his attention on the girl, he realized she was now out of sight, allowing his eyes to wander about the guild, it stopped at the end of the guild, surely enough both former Phantom mage's were at the bar, a certain silver-haired barmaid currently pouring both of them drinks. Grey was not surprised at Mirajane's lack of shock of their appearances, after all she had most likely have been the one to stamp their insignia's on their respected places. Dark eyebrows furrowed, the Fairy Tail idol had always been the type to accept others rather quite easily, it sometimes had made him uncomfortable in the past, but eventually he got used to it, Grey had taken notice of master's and her abilities to read others emotions. So the two mages had to be good right? Shaking his head, he would not allow himself to simply embrace these two into his family that he had searched for, for many years. They had to truly prove themselves to not only him, but everyone in the guild as well.

What was that girl's name, shifting his thoughts around until he stumbled upon some recently heard gossip he had heard earlier. Sometimes it was beneficial to have such a rowdy, loud ass guild, even though most information heard from these lunatics was _very_ biased. Apparently Lucy had been kidnapped by the legendary S-Class rain women from Phantom Lord's guild during the raid of their building early that morning. Of course Grey along with other members of the guild were dumbfounded to why they wanted the celestial mage, especially considering the fact she was recently just accepted into the guild and he had highly doubt she would know anything about the rival guild.

"Juvia…" The name rolled of his tongue with interest as he continued to eye the girl on the other side of the guild. Cold eyes met his once again, he noticed a flicker of pain flashed in her eyes before she turned her head away once again. Grey for some reason knew the pain she was feeling, what had she given up in her lifetime, or had life given up on her? Biting down on his lower lip, his mind began to recede back into the depths of darkness, only faint memories lingered in his conscious. Why must one sacrifice so much, to only feel pain, remorse and sorrow to only hopefully see the light of day present the next? It was a stupid question and he knew this, he's seen others sacrifice so much, just for him. Literally.

A loud slamming of the guild doors filled Gray's ears and right away he assumed a certain Dragon Slayer was the cause. Looking towards the front of the guild, he caught a glimpse of blonde making its way towards the exit, with a small smirk now on his face at the confirmation of his assumption, he simply shook his head. Those two made it so freaking obvious to the world around them, or at least the guild at most. Now he just needed someone for himse…Shit what was he saying?

_Ultear. Lyon...I think…I think it's time for me to…_

* * *

Yup. Once he had saw them getting all nice and comfy with Mirajane he had felt the burning rage resurface in the pits of his stomach. Not wanting to cause a scene, well scratch that he wanted to cause the biggest fucking scene in all of Fairy Tail, but if he did that, he would surely regret it. And why do you ask? Oh well let's see…Natsu knew for a fact that a certain blonde haired celestial mage would have been upset with him, then a lingering guilt would replace his anger. Shit, if it came down to it, he would rather be pissed off then dealing with anything else close to depressed like emotions. The pink haired man did not really cope well with guilt, it was hard for his mind to register on what the man was supposed to do to fix the dilemma at hand. So now here he was looking like a mad man stumbling around in fumes around the streets of Magnolia. Did he know where he was going? No, not really, but he had an idea where he would end up.

Immediately after the large doors of the guild had closed, the scent of distress and honey had shortly began to follow after his trail. Well he was somewhat surprised, usually no one has ever made attempt to chase him down, especially when he wasn't exactly in the best of all moods. Yet here was this girl he had only met not too long ago, concern and worry reeking off of her from miles away, following his every movement from behind. If he had a jewel for every time he would admit that this girl was so _damn_ intriguing he would be one rich motherfuc…

"Natsu!" Turning around to the soft voice, Lucy was now standing right in front of him, her chocolate orbs worriedly eyeing him and small pants escaping her small pink lips. Well he had to give her credit for catching up to him so quickly.

"Natsu…where are you going?" The Dragon Slayer simply shrugged his shoulders at her question, he saw her lips slightly open and formed a small o shape to his response. Natsu did know where he was going, but he wasn't really in the mood to be talking to anyone as of yet.

The two Fairy Tail mages continued to walk down the streets of the lake town in silence, to wherever the fire mage had in mind. Lucy eyed Natsu from the corner of her eyes, his breathing was slow but strong, eyes focused on the road ahead of them, his body was tense and it seemed like he was lost in his own little world. What was going on in that mind of his? A few more minutes passed by, still no words were exchanged from the two teens, Lucy was now getting somewhat irritated, not at the nonresponsive boy, but the fact she did not know where in the heck they were going! In a way it was somewhat childish, but hey, she couldn't help who she was, the blonde was a _very_ curious girl.

"We're here." His deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts, eyeing the surrounding area with great interest, it seems like they were in some sort of park…Lucy's eyes widen in realization, had Natsu led them to the very park in which Gajeel had marked Levy and her friends for the world to see? Looking at the older teen for confirmation, she saw that he was staring at a certain tree centered in the park. So this is where the Shadow Gear team had been "crucified" for the whole world to see. Lucy could not imagine the amount of pain, humiliation, shame, that Levy and her team were going through right now. The blonde wouldn't know what to do if she was riding on the same boat, it was just too…too heart wrenching.

"Memories."

"Huh?" Lucy responded to the random outburst from Natsu. What did he mean by "memories", but she had a feeling she was about to find out.

"The reason why I came here...the memories in which this park now serves to me…" His voice was lighter than usual, a hint of sorrow ringed from every word he had spoken. Lucy could not have helped but to let her eyelids droop and feel for the man besides her.

"It's no time for me to mope around with nothing but regret, feeling like shit all the time and constantly thinking "what if's" all the time….what happened is all in the past." He turned his head to face the blonde girl, who in returned gasped at him. His usually brash, happy going smile replaced with a more serious, more mature Natsu Dragneel, it felt as if he was staring into her soul.

"I've lived all my life living in the past, surrounded by nothing but darkness, reliving every single movement, every single breath and left only to dream for a brighter future.." Natsu took small steps towards the girl, her heart jumped in her chest, the man was pouring out what he was hiding in his most inner depth's to her like it was nothing. Not only that, but he was staring at her with so much intensity, so focused on her and with a gleam of what seemed to be regret in his eyes. What had the poor man been through to adorn such a sad feature?

By now Natsu was standing in front of her, her heart pounding continuously against her ribcage, oh lord what was he going to do, what was he going to say next, the suspense was killing her. His hand reached forward towards her face, the next thing she knew, Lucy felt a strong warm sensation spread around her face. Looking at the now large hand that now rested on the side of her face, she felt her insides melting away and her face lighting on fire. Natsu was cupping her cheek! Natsu of all people! The warmth slowly left her face as he pulled his hand away from her visage, but instead he leaned his head down towards her, she gasped as she felt his warm breath against the side of her ear.

"No more, no longer do I want to live in a sea of regrets, no longer my shall my past make me weak, but in fact allow me to grow stronger, to decide my own fate, walk down my own chosen path and this is why for the last time I chose to allow myself to falter alone…" As the last few words escaped the man's lips, he pulled himself away from the now stunned Lucy, walking towards the tree that stood before them not once taking a glance back at her.

"Na..Natsu." Lucy choked out as he saw the said man standing alone in front of the tree. From what he had just told her, she had learned so much more about the man, yet at the same time there was so much more to unravel from the words that he had spoken. And why had he told her that he was alone, did he not realize everyone in the guild worried about him in some way, shape and form? What was she to do…biting her lower lip she found her body moving towards the pink haired man. Her mind in total control of her actions, the next moment she found her arms wrapped around his torso and her head now buried in the now surprised man's mid-back.

"Lucy?" Natsu said in shock at the contact from the girl. His emotions were now going hay wired from the warmth that radiated from Lucy's touch and her scent slowly wrapping around his being. Was she trying to comfort him?

"Natsu..you don't have to go through this alone…you don't have to distant yourself from the world..there's people that care about you…that worry about you…that will always be there for you." Her small hands tightened around his waist with each word she said and he could feel wetness pressing into his back. _Is she crying?_ Then he heard the sniffles come from the girl, confirming his suspicion.

"You are not alone Natsu…everyone is here for you..I…I'm here for you." Natsu's eyes widen as the girl stuttered out the last words. His head looked down to the soft hands wrapped around him, did he truly have to go through this alone, like she said, there were people that will always be there for him, to accept him for who he was, yet he simply pushed them away. But she had also said that she was indeed there for him as well. _Idiot._ With a small smile now on his face, he placed a hand over hers, interlocking them together, he gave her a tight squeeze of appreciation, earning him a gasp from Lucy.

"Thank you."

* * *

Natsu lay in his bed staring at the ceiling overhead. His thoughts lost in what had occurred earlier that day with a certain blonde haired girl. He was not going to lie that he had some short of interest in the girl, but he did not want to admit it, he just couldn't. He growled in frustration at the thought, it just wasn't meant to be..

"Natsu are you alright?" Happy's voice filled the small roam.

"Yeah just thinking about some stuff…" Natsu replied to his best friend, not really wanting to go into the events that happened with the celestial mage.

"Is it about Lucy?" God Damnit. Was it that damn obvious it was about her? Shaking his head he rolled onto his side, staring out the window into the night sky, ignoring the cat's remark about the blonde girl. He heard a small chuckle come from his friend, as he jumped onto the edge of the bed, curling up into a small ball against his feet, slowly drifting off into a deep sleep. Well at least he wouldn't have to deal with a sarcastic cat the rest of the night…hopefully.

Letting his mind to trail back onto the previous subject at hand, after the two had left the park, Lucy had suggested that the Dragon Slayer along with other members of the guild should have a get together at her place the coming weekend. Of course Natsu had accepted in a heartbeat, he wasn't the type to turn anyone down, especially if Lucy was the one asking. Was he really doing the right thing? Hell, he already knew the answer to that question, yet he continued to trek along the path he knew he shouldn't be following. Sighing in frustration, Natsu tightly closed his eyes, he was tired of all the thinking, he would allow the darkness to overtake him and wait for the coming weekend, shortly after he fell into a deep slumber alongside his friend.

* * *

_Crimson eyes twinkled in the shadows of the night, the lone figure stood with a menacing smile, accomplished with its latest deed. The moonlight shone around the mysterious figure, tiny drops of dark red fell from the tips of its claw like fingers. The figure let out a satanic laugh, allowing the once silent night to embrace its sadistic laughter._

* * *

_**Well that's the end of that chapter ^_^, next chapter will be a longer chapter. Now for where the story is heading...The Fighting Festival arc will be coming up next, hopefully after that I want to dive into Erza/Gray's past among other things.**  
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_**OhtaSuzuke- Hopefully that was some nice enough fluff ;)**_

_**Helekiller92- Errr...I hope the ending won't be a problem ^_^**_

_**PhoenixedDragon- Haha you better take it =( lol jk. Want to know something funny? I never intended for this fic to follow the manga, it just happened and i'm enjoying writing it haha. With the arcs...i'm just going to through which ones I feel are appropriate to how the story is progressing, but yes I will be diving into Erza and Gray later on.**_


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